DUSKY GROUSE I21 
fore this it is their practice when disturbed to fly up 
into the branches of the pines, where they stand erect 
with feathers pressed close to their bodies, each looking 
for all the world like a broken-off dead branch. 
Often in August or September broods of these birds 
may be found on the bare mountain-side, feeding on the 
huckleberries, or among low sarvis trees. In such a 
case splendid and very easy shooting may be had at 
these great birds, but if a flock be scattered in the tim- 
ber, or among thick alders, the shooting is quite as 
difficult as that of the eastern ruffed grouse. Although 
these birds can know little about the shotgun, they are 
often quite as acute as the partridge in putting the 
trunk of a tree or a clump of bushes between the gun- 
ner and themselves. On the other hand, when they 
take refuge in the branches of a tree, and stand there 
watching you, they will often permit half-a dozen shots 
to be fired at them without moving, unless hit. 
In Captain Bendire’s admirable account of the sooty 
grouse, the northwestern form of D. obscurus, he 
quotes a letter from Captain (now General) T. E. 
Wilcox, in which the writer says: “I once caught a 
mother grouse with a fish hook. I had my rod on my 
shoulder and suddenly came upon a covey about the 
size of quails and caught one with my hands. This 
made the old bird frantic; she attacked me, and alight- 
ing on my rod, the hook pierced her foot. I was 
pulling her in when my leader broke and she flew off. 
Of course, I released her chicken. I killed a male in 
the Boise Mountains, December 2, 1879, which 
