DUSKY GROUSE 121 



fore this it is their practice when disturbed to fly up 

 into the branches of the pines, where they stand erect 

 with feathers pressed close to their bodies, each looking 

 for all the world like a broken-off dead branch. 



Often in August or September broods of these birds 

 may be found on the bare mountain-side, feeding on the 

 huckleberries, or among low sarvis trees. In such a 

 case splendid and very easy shooting may be had at 

 these great birds, but if a flock be scattered in the tim- 

 ber, or among thick alders, the shooting is quite as 

 difficult as that of the eastern ruffed grouse. Although 

 these birds can know little about the shotgun, they are 

 often quite as acute as the partridge in putting the 

 trunk of a tree or a clump of bushes between the gun- 

 ner and themselves. On the other hand, when they 

 take refuge in the branches of a tree, and stand there 

 watching you, they will often permit half a dozen shots 

 to be fired at them without moving, unless hit. 



In Captain Bendire's admirable account of the sooty 

 grouse, the northwestern form of D. obscurus, he 

 quotes a letter from Captain (now General) T. E. 

 Wilcox, in which the writer says: "I once caught a 

 mother grouse with a fish hook. I had my rod on my 

 shoulder and suddenly came upon a covey about the 

 size of quails and caught one with my hands. This 

 made the old bird frantic ; she attacked me, and alight- 

 ing on my rod, the hook pierced her foot. I was 

 pulling her in when my leader broke and she flew off. 

 Of course, I released her chicken. I killed a male in 

 the Boise Mountains, December 2, 1879, which 



