RICHARDSON SJGROUSE: 
ay HIS bird, which is another race of the Dusky Grouse, 
inhabits the eastern slopes of the Rocky Mountains 
from central Montana northward, through the interior 
of British North America, and is known as Richardson’s 
Grouse. It is almost precisely similar in plumage to the 
Dusky Grouse, but lacks the distinct gray band on the 
tip of the tail, or has it very slightly indicated. The tail 
seems to be more square at the tip, and the feathers are 
much broader. Wherever its habitat overlaps that of 
either of its relatives, such as in Wyoming and Idaho, the 
present bird intergrades with them. It inhabits the same 
kind of country, high mountains, and breeds wherever 
found in spring, and passes much of the autumn in the 
bottoms, along creeks where the cover is plenty and 
berries abundant. 
This Grouse builds a nest similar to its relatives, if 
scraping a slight hollow in the ground can be called 
building, but the eggs are smaller, although marked and 
colored in the same way. It did not seem to me to be 
as numerous in the places it frequented as were its rela- 
tives in their habitats, and in certain portions of Montana 
I have rarely met with it, but in other sections, as in the 
Big Horn Mountains, it is common. Its habits do not 
differ from those of the Dusky or Sooty Grouse, and the 
description of these already given will suffice for this bird 
as well. In size it equals the others, and its flesh is as 
white and well-flavored. 
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