136 AMEEICAN GAME BIRD SHOOTING. 



brown, and some white on the scapiilaries. The long 

 feathers of the sides are similar to those of the back, and 

 the under parts are a bluish-gray, variegated with white, 

 especially on the lower part of the abdomen. The cheeks 

 are black, the throat is speckled with black and white, 

 the legs are feathered to the toes, and the usual warty 

 skin is found over the eye. The female is lighter in color 

 than the male, and also smaller — the latter having a 

 length varying from eighteen to twenty-four inches, the 

 former from sixteen to twenty inches. 



The male is probably the handsomest of the grouse 

 family, when he is in full plumage, in spring or winter, 

 as he has a proud and stately appearance, Avhich makes 

 him seem exceedingly self-conscious. He looks more im- 

 posing during the mating season than at any other period, 

 especially when he is indulging in erotic calls, as he then 

 swells with pride, and struts around with the air of a 

 conquering gallant. He commences calling as early as 

 February in some parts of the Pacific Coast, but he docs 

 not, as a rule, develop into a professional troubadour 

 until March. He is then most persistent in attracting 

 attention to his lonely condition, as he frequently in- 

 dulges in erotic lays both night and day, with only sliglit 

 intermissions. His courting song is a deep, prolonged, 

 whirring noise, which is repeated rapidly several times, 

 then stopped for a while. This is supposed to be pro- 

 duced by the alternate inflation and contraction of the 

 air sacs on the sides of the throat. 



No species of the family has so much control over its 

 voice as this one, for so misleading are its calls that a 

 person might imagine they came from a long distance, 

 whereas the bird uttering them may not be ten feet away. 

 Experience does not always prevent a person from being 

 deceived by them, for I have sometimes gone to the foot of 

 a tree in which I knew a cock had taken refuge, and been 

 led to seek for him elsewhere on hearing his cry. The 



