176 UPLAND SHOOTING. 



olive-green in color, speckled with a rich dark-brown. 

 In size they are slightly larger than the eggs of the prairie 

 chicken, and are longer, proportionally, than are those 

 of the ruffed grouse. 



Late in April in the southern Snake River country, and 

 by the middle of May or the first of June north of the 

 Cceur d' Alene, the young brood is hatched, and at this 

 time a coolness arises upon the part of the male. He does 

 not desert the hen until the young are able to fly, but he 

 remains at a respectful distance. The downy young are 

 a bright buff y yellow, the upper parts tinged reddish, and 

 coarsely marbled with black; the fore part of the head all 

 around is immaculate, and a small black spot is apparent 

 on the middle of the crown. Before they are able to fly, 

 the mother resorts to every artifice to ' prevent the dis- 

 covery of her brood. In her tricks she closely resembles 

 the partridge. As best suits her purpose, she sulks 

 through the bushes or rises and flies away with a loud 

 whir, and then, when danger is past, she rejoins her 

 offspring, and calls them together with cluck and action 

 of the barn-yard fowl. As they grow older, the rusty 

 plumage of the back becomes a darker brown, spotted and 

 barred with black and conspicuously streaked with white, 

 and the lower parts change to a dull white, spotted with 

 dusky. Not until after their first moult do the clear-cut, 

 V-shaped markings become prominent. 



During May, June, and July, the chicks thrive and 

 fatten. From their mother they acquire a fearless dis- 

 position, that prompts them, when disturbed, to draw 

 themselves close to the ground rather than to seek safety 

 in flight; and so closely do they resemble in hue the 

 mountain vegetation, that it takes sharp eyes to discover 

 them when once the buffy down of infancy is lost. The 

 female, while incubating, will suffer herself to be almost 

 trodden upon before she will leave her nest, and were it 



