152 FRANK SCHLEY'S PARTRIDGE AND PHEASANT SHOOTING. 



also found them abundantly in Oregon and on the slopes of 

 the cascade and coast ranges, extending wherever pine or 

 fir timber occurs, to the very borders of the ocean. The 

 Black Hills, in Nebraska, he gives as their most eastern 

 limit. 



The same author corrects the statement of Douglas as to 

 certain habits of this species. The males are said not to 

 be particularly pugnacious, and very rarely forsake the 

 boughs of the pine or fir trees for a rocky eminence. They 

 feed on berries only during a brief season in autumn, at 

 all other times of the year subsisting upon the leaves of 

 the pine and fir, especially those of the Douglas Fir. This 

 food imparts a strong resinous flavor to the flesh of this 

 Grouse, which, however, is not unpleasant, and after 

 awhile becomes quite attractive to the epicure. The love- 

 notes of this bird are said to be deep, soft, plaintive, but 

 unmusical, and resemble the whirring sounds made by a 

 rattan, swung rapidly and in jerks through the air. These 

 notes usually begin the first week in March. The young 

 are able to fly feebly by the first of July. By the last of 

 August they have attained their full size. In the winter 

 they retire to the tops of the loftiest firs, where they pass 

 the season in an almost immovable state of hibernation. 

 Between July and winter they may be readily shot. Once 

 raised, they invariably fly to trees. They heed but little 

 the report of a gun unless they have been wounded. Their 

 flesh is said to be midway between the color of the Pinna- 

 ted and Buffed Grouse, partaking of their good qualities, 

 but surpassing either. 



The eggs of this species are oval in shape; and one end 

 is a little more obtuse than the other. The ground is of a 

 pale cream-color, and is marked with small rounded spots 

 of reddish-brown. These are more numerous arid larger 

 towards the larger encf. They measure 1.95 inches in 

 length, and 1.45 in breadth. Baird, Brewer and Eidgway. 



