THE ORLGON NATURALIST. 



103 



have also found them in the grass in fence 

 corners. The nest is constructed of dead leaves 

 and grass with a few feathers of the bird. 

 From six to thirteen eggs are laid, generally 

 ten or eleven. April 27, 1895 ^ collected a 

 a set of ten fresh eggs, in color a creamy white, 

 sparsely, spotted with redish-brown. They 

 measured 1.62x1.19; 1.65x1.20; 1.63x1.18; 

 1.66x1.18; 1.65x1.19; 1.65x1.18; 1.68x1.21; 

 1.66x1.19; 1.67x1.20; and 1.63x1.18. 

 April 27, 1895 I collected a set of eleven eggs, 

 incubation begun, marked like above. May 3, 

 1895 I collected a set of eleven eggs, incu- 

 bation about one half, also marked like first set. 

 June 10, 1895 I collected a set of seven fresh 

 eggs, which were unmarked, the ground color 

 of this set was also much lighter. Of all the 

 sets, which I have seen, this is the only one, in 

 which the eggs were unmarked. 



The young, when only a day or two old, at 

 the call (f danger from the mother bird, will 

 run and hide under the grass, leaves or any- 

 thing they can tind close at hand. I have 

 when going through the woods surjirised an 

 Oregon ruffed grouse and her young, where- 

 upon she would give the alarm, spread her tail- 

 feathers, ruffle the feathers of her body, 

 especially on her neck, and come at me as if 

 to fight. If I went toward her, she would go 

 flopping off as if a wing or leg was broken, and 

 by this time the young are hidden and it is 

 almost impossible to find them. During this 

 time, the old bird will stay close by giving the 

 alarm call every little while, and the young 

 will keep perfectly motionless and silent, some 

 times for 25 or 30 minutes, they will then 

 begin chipping, slip out from their hiding 

 places, and hunt for their mother. 



A few years ago I caught several young that 

 were in the down, and thought, I would try to 

 raise them. They were very gentle, when 

 caught, and I put them with a gentle hen, in 

 a wire netting corral, but for want of insect 

 food, which at that time I did not know how 

 to provide, they all died, 



May 2, 1896, I collected a set of ten eggs, 

 incubation about one half. May 2, 1896, I 



collected a set of six fresh eggs and f.nir Denny 

 pheasant's eggs in the nest. May 6, 1896, I 

 collected a .set of six fresh eggs. May 7, 1896, 

 I collected a set of eleven eggs incubation 

 about one third. May 9, 1896, I collected a 

 set of nine eggs incubation begun. All the 

 above sets are marked like my first set in 1895. 

 Mr. G. D. Peck of Salem, Or. writes: 

 "I can see no difference in the 

 habits of the ruffed grouse of the East 

 and the Oregon rufted grouse- In sparsely 

 settled districts, they are very tame, 

 but when alarmed take to the trees. They 

 pass the night on the ground, drum at any 

 time rom October to July, and in Iowa I have 

 heard them drumming in mid-winter, when the 

 winter was very mild. I never saw two grouse 

 on one drumming log, and I do not think they 

 mate. They protect their young much better 

 than the sooty grouse, but seem careless in 

 selecting the nesting site. I have found nests 

 in the woods in plain sight, the eggs not 

 covered, and no grouse in sight. One nest 

 found in Oregon in 1894, was in a dense 

 swamp; it contained six eggs; May 11 I flushed 

 a sooty grouse from a nest containing eight 

 eggs of the sooty grouse and seven eggs of the 

 ruffed grouse; it would be hard to say which 

 had the best right to the nest, and almost in 

 sight of this nest, on May 5, I found a nest 

 with seven eggs of the sooty grouse and three 

 eggs of the Denny pheasant. 



The ruffed grouse is not very common in the 

 vicinity of Salem, not as common as the sooty 

 grouse. " 



Wm. L. Finley. 



THE IMPORTED AND ACCLIMATED 

 GERMAN SONG BIRDS IN OREGON. 



BVC. F, PFLUGER. 



THE SISKIN, Fringilla spinus. 

 {Der Zeisig.) 

 Of these useful song-birds, 40 pairs were in- 

 troduced into Oregon in 1889, by the Society. 

 The siskin is found throughout Europe, and 



