SOOTV GROUSE. 95 



was made to escape. Drawing nearer, I fired at one as 

 he rose, when the rest took wing but flew only a short 

 distance before ahghting, and then began to run. They 

 took wing again as I advanced, when I secured two more, 

 and with httle trouble and being obliged to walk but a 

 short distance I shot all but one, and he, finding the place 

 altogether unhealthy, flew down the mountain side, after 

 I had fired several times at his companions, and escaped. 

 This was in the month of September, but snow had not 

 yet fallen, and berries of various kinds were plentiful on 

 the bushes and vines, affording ample food for the birds. 

 They were fat and in fine condition, and made a most 

 acceptable addition to our camp larder. 



In the thick firs it is practically impossible to see these 

 birds, as they not only remain motionless, often squatting 

 close to the limb or to the trunk itself, but their dark, 

 sooty plumage helps very much to conceal them; so, if 

 one's eyes do light upon a bird, it is usually deemed to be 

 only a knot or a bunch of some kind attached to the limb 

 or trunk. The males have the same habit in the spring, as 

 that already described in the article on the Dusky Grouse, 

 of blowing up the yellow sac on the side of the neck, and 

 emitting a sound that is heard for a considerable dis- 

 tance, a sort of boom, and from its ventriloquial powers, 

 it is impossible to determine whence it comes, or where 

 the bird is located. At such times, could you catch 

 a glimpse of the performer he would present a curious 

 appearance, for his neck would be pufifed out until it 

 seemed as large as his body, or as if he was suffering 

 from a severe attack of the goiter, while the head, 

 apparently reduced in dimensions, would be perched 

 upon these yellow globes, and the bright eyes, half closed 

 from the pressure below them, would be surmounted by 

 a conspicuous semicircle of brilliant orange. The air 



