DUSKY GROUSE. 93 



and well-flavored, and sometimes individuals are met 

 with that will weigh as much as three pounds and a half. 



DENDRAGAPUS OBSCURUS. 



Geographical Distribution. — Rocky Mountains from Southern 

 Idaho, Montana, and Western South Dakota to New Mexico 

 and Arizona. 



Adult Male. — Forehead, dull rufous ; back of head brownish 

 black, feathers tipped with rusty; in some specimens the top of 

 head is all slaty gray like the back; back of neck and upper 

 parts, blackish brown, vermiculated with lighter brown, and 

 gray, sometimes coarsely mottled with the same, especially on 

 the wings, which are occasionally blotched with black; scapulars 

 streaked with white along the shafts to the tips; w^hite space on 

 sides of neck ; throat, white, mottled with black ; sides of head, black; 

 lower parts, slate gray, mottled with brown upon the flanks, the 

 feathers of which have streaks along the shafts, and terminal spots 

 white; under tail-coverts, blackish brown, with subapical bar of 

 gray, mottled and bordered with black and tipped with white; 

 tail, rounded, black, and tipped with a broad gray band; pri- 

 maries, dark brown, outer webs and tips, mottled with gray; legs 

 covered to the toes with pale brown feathers; bill, horn color. 

 Total length, about 20 inches; wing, about 9I; tail, 8; tarsus, if. 

 Weight, about 3 pounds. 



Adult Female. — Upper parts, mottled with black and buff, 

 these frequently taking the form of bars and blotches; feathers, 

 usually tipped with white; wings, slaty brown or gray, barred 

 and mottled with buff, central streaks and terminal points, white; 

 primaries, dark brown; throat, mostly buff; sides and front of 

 neck and chest, dark brownish gray, barred and tipped with 

 buffy white, sometimes only a spot of white on the tip; rest of 

 under parts, slaty gray, the flank feathers tipped with white 

 and mottled with buff and black; central tail feathers, blackish 

 brown barred with pale grayish brown, the bars mottled with 

 blackish ; rest of tail, black, slightly mottled with gray, and a gray 

 band at tip. Total length, about 17 inches; wing, 8|; tail, 6. 



