making no effort to get away or sp.ve itself from the 

 same fate. 



Color The color of this species is more of a grayish 

 brown than the Oregon species, and lacking that rich 

 chestnut that adds so much to the beauty of the latter. 

 The brown markings, however, are possibly a little more 

 conspicuous. The upper tail feathers are more of a 

 blue, mottled and barred with a blackish brown. A 

 large tuft of feathers on each side of the neck of a 

 smoky brown, edged with metallic green. Unlike the 

 Oregon species these feathers are entirely absent or 

 very small on the female. 



Nest and Eggs The nest and eggs are the same as 

 the Oregon grouse. 



Measurements In size the two species do not vary to 

 any considerable extent. 



THE SPRUCE GROUSE 



(Dendragapus franklini) 



The spruce or Franklin grouse of Oregon and Wash- 

 ington is a species of the Canadian spruce grouse, and 

 ranges diagonally through the mountains of eastern 

 Oregon and Washington, and thence to the coast of 

 British Columbia. It confines its habitat to the higher 

 mountains, being seldom found below an elevation of 

 four to five thousand feet. This is another of the grouse 

 family that has been given the name of "fool hen," on 

 account of its naturally tame nature. When sitting on 

 the limb of a tree, but a few feet above the ground, it 

 considers itself safe from all harm and makes little 

 effort to escape, and may often be killed with a stick. 

 There is little sport in shooting this variety. The food 

 of this species, like all other mountain dwelling grouse, 

 is buds, tender shoots and seeds, berries and insects 

 when obtainable. 



Color Male Upper parts gray, the central back and 

 the wings having a brownish hue; the tail-coverts, which 

 are tipped with broad splashes of white is a distin- 

 guishing feature of this species; feathers, on the flanks 

 tipped broadly with white, throat, black, imperfectly 

 edged with white; tail, nearly square at the end and of 

 a brownish color. 



Female Considerably more of an ochreous cast. It 

 has the same characteristic broad white tips on the 

 feathers of the flanks; tail, dirty ochre, mottled with 

 black and narrowly tipped with white. 



Nest and Eggs The nest is a depression in the 

 49 



