TETRAONID^ — THE GROUSE. 453 



stantly by day and by night, lie has been able to note some interesting 

 peculiarities in their habits. The drumming by the male is often made on a 

 stone as well as a log, the same perch being resorted to, when once chosen by 

 a male bird, as long as it lives. In one instance he knew one of these Par- 

 tridges persistently adhere to its drumming-place, even though the woods had 

 all been cut away and a new road made close by its post. They roost on 

 the ground as well as on trees, when near their home, and just where night 

 overtakes them. They can fly by night as well as by day, when disturbed, 

 as he has often had occasion to notice, having started them up at all hours 

 of the night. They are very local in their habits, and never wander more 

 than a hundred rods from the drumming-place of the male. This spot 

 seems to be the central point around which they live. The young keep 

 with the old birds throughout the fall and winter, and select their own 

 homes in the spring, not far from those of their parents. When a flock is 

 started up, they separate and fly in every direction ; but if one sits quietly 

 down and keeps perfectly still, in less than an hour he will see them all 

 coming back, on foot, and all at about the same time. 



The eggs of this species measure 1.60 inches in length by 1.15 in breadth. 

 They are usually unspotted and of a uniform dark cream-color, occasionally 

 marked with darker blotches of the same. They are of an elongated oval, 

 pointed at one end. 



Bonasa umbellus, var. umbelloides, Douglas. 



THE MOUNTAIN PARTRIDGE. 



Tetrao umbelloides, Dougl. Linn. Trans. XVL 1829, 148. Bonasa umbellus, var. umbelloides, 

 Baikd, Birds N. Am. 1858, 925 (appendix). Bonasa umbelloides, Elliot, P. A. N. S. 

 1864. Bonasa ^cmbellus, Aud. — Dall & Bannister, Tr. Chicago, Ac. I, 1869, 287 

 (Alaska, interior). 



Sp. Char. In pattern of coloration exactly similar to umbellus, but colors diflferent. 

 Rufous tints almost wholly replaced by graj'-, the ground-color of the tail always fine 

 light ash. Neck-tufts deep glossy-black. 



Hab. Rocky Mountains of the United States, and interior of British America, from 

 Alaska (on the Yukon) to Canada, where grading into var. iimbellus. 



Habits. In regard to the habits of this variety we have no information. 

 It was found by Mr. Drummond among the Eocky Mountains, near the 

 sources of the tributaries of the Saskatchewan. He states that those he 

 met with were at least one third smaller than the umhellm, had a much 

 grayer plumage and a shorter ruffle. He regarded it as a distinct species 

 from the common Partridge, which he also encountered in the same locality. 



Mr. Eidgway met with this variety on the Wahsatch ]\Iountains in Octo- 

 ber and during the summer. It was known in that locality as the Pine 

 Hen, in distinction from the T. ohscurus, which was known as the Mountain 

 Grouse. 



