XII 



THE DUSKY- OR BLUE-GROUSE 



THE ruffed-grouse has a rival in beauty in the 

 blue- or dusky-grouse of the West. This bird 

 is much larger and will weigh as much as three and 

 one-half pounds. Here as elsewhere among the game 

 birds the variety-makers have been at work, and have 

 given us two sub-species, so much alike, however, that 

 I must frankly say, although I may have shot them all, 

 I could not know the difference between them. As a 

 matter of fact the differences are slight and may be 

 regarded b}^ the sportsman as purely local or climatic. 



The blue-grouse are the grouse of the Rocky Moun- 

 tains. Both spruce-grouse and ruffed-grouse are 

 found associated with them in places, but from Ari- 

 zona and New Mexico to the British possessions 

 one may find the magnificent blue-grouse, and often 

 find it abundant. They are also found on the Coast 

 Range, and thence eastward to the Rocky Mountains. 



The general color of this bird is a slate-blue. Its 



throat is white and it is marked above and on the 



wings with black. The general bluish-gray color, 



often quite dark, and its size render it unmistakable. 



The only bird at all like it is the Canada-grouse, 



often called spruce- or black-grouse. The latter bird is 



smaller than the ruffed-grouse, however, while the 



blue-grouse is nearly twice as large. 



96 



