164 AMEEICAlSr GAME BIKD SHOOTIN^G. 



doubt, is due to climate and habitat. The one known as 

 the Oregon grouse {Bonasa sabinei) is darker tlian 

 tlie umhelhis, and the upper parts are a dark, orange- 

 chestnut color, mottled with black — not with brown as 

 in the Eastern species. The under tail covets are orange- 

 chestnut, with indistinct bars of black, and an angular 

 terminal blotch of white; and the light-brown blotches 

 and edgings of the umheUus are replaced by very dark 

 brown or black. Some specimens have dark gray tails; 

 and others differ m plumage, being dark-brown in one 

 section of the country, and pale-gray in another. The 

 sabine variety Is rather erratic in habit, partially migra- 

 tory, and a generous feeder, its food consisting of berries, 

 buds, fruit, insects, and grain. 



The allied grouse {Bonasa mnbellus var. iinibelloides) 

 differs only slightly in coloration from the typical spe- 

 cies — not enough perhaps to class it as a variety, as its 

 hue varies so much in different places that even a skillful 

 naturalist would find it difficult to distmguish the two 

 apart. The principal distinctions between them are, 

 that the variety umbelloides is somewhat grayer; that the 

 neck tufts are sometimes glossy black; and that the 

 ground color of the tail is cinerous. This variety is 

 found in the Rocky Mountains tnd in the forest stretch- 

 ing north and westward from it, as it has been shot 

 throughout the region lying between California and 

 Alaska, and in Manitoba and the country west of it, as 

 far as the Pacific Ocean. 



The grouse of the Pacific Coast commence drumming 

 earlier in the season than those of the Atlantic, owing to 

 the mildness of the climate. Tlieir tooting may some- 

 times bo heard as early as January, in Oregon and Wash- 

 ington Territory, and tbey are so persistent at it in Febru- 

 ary that they fre(|nently keep it up all night. They are 

 also more prolific than their Eastern congeners, and much 

 tamer, owing to their immunity from danger, for the popu- 



