DUSKY “GROUSE. 
ee species and its two races are, next to the Cock- 
of-the-Plains, the largest Grouse in the United 
States. The three forms range from New Mexico in 
the south, to Sitka, Alaska, in the north, and grade into 
each other at different points of their dispersion. Various 
names, besides the one at the head of this article, such 
as Pine Hen, Blue, Pine, and Gray Grouse are applied 
to these birds, no particular one being confined to any 
especial form, but in several localities the same name is 
given to the different races. The present species, the 
Dusky Grouse of naturalists, ranges from southern 
Idaho, east to western South Dakota, and then through 
portions of Wyoming, Nevada, Utah, and Colorado, 
through the northern half of Arizona to the southern 
part of New Mexico. It is not found in California. It 
is essentially a bird of the high mountains, and ranges to 
the limits of timber, coming down in winter to perhaps 
ani altitude of 2000 feet, and dwells mainly in the forests 
of the thick spruce and fir. Solitary in its habits it is 
frequently found alone or in small parties of perhaps half 
a dozen individuals, and is of a roving, restless nature, 
and delights in rough hillsides and mountain summits, 
frequently changing its abode. The food consists of 
leaves, berries, buds of the pines—resorting to these last 
only in winter when the snow is deep—insects of all 
kinds, especially grasshoppers, worms, and grubs. In the 
spring the male struts exactly like the Turkey Gobbler; 
puffing out his feathers, dropping the wings, spreading 
go 
