DUSKY GROUSE. gt 
and elevating the tail, and drawing the head toward the 
back, he steps gingerly along, overcome for the moment 
by the extent and force of his amatory feelings. He has 
another method also of declaring his love, which he em- 
ploys when perched in the midst of some thick fir or 
spruce. At such times he inflates a small sac, covered 
by a bare skin on either side of the neck, until it is half as 
large as an orange and something like it in color, sur- 
rounded by a fringe of white feathers; and suddenly 
exhausting the air, emits a low, booming sound having 
a strange ventriloquial power, and which can be heard for 
a singularly long distance. If met with on the ground 
this Grouse immediately takes to a tree if any are in the 
vicinity, and remains motionless on its perch, watching 
keenly every movement of its pursuer. It is very diff- 
cult to discover it when it is so en garde, and if, after 
much peering into the somber depths of the foliage 
and many contortions of the neck, one catches sight 
of the bird, it is aware of the fact at once, and plunges 
down the mountain side with a roar of wings and swift- 
ness of flight that almost always carries him away in 
safety. The speed at which the bird travels and the 
brief momentary glimpses that are afforded of his 
passing form, give but a slight chance for a successful 
shot. 
At times when there are any grain fields near its 
resorts, the Dusky Grouse will enter the stubble to pick 
up the scattered kernels, and then is often quite tame 
and unsuspicious. I do not consider it a very wild or 
shy bird, at least I have never found it so, but this 
may be because I have mostly seen it in retired locali- 
ties, in the depths of the forest, or on high mountains, 
where the bird had probably been seldom molested by 
man. When suddenly started it flies off with great 
