TKTRAONrD.E — THE GROUSE. 453 



stantly by day and l)y ni^dit, he lias been able to note some interesting 

 peculiarities in their habits. The druraniing by the male is ol'ten made on a 

 stone as well as a log, the same perch l)eing resorted to, when once chosen l)y 

 a male bird, as long as it lives. In one instance he knew one of these Par- 

 tridges persistently adhere to its druiuming-place, even though tlie woods had 

 all been cut away and a new road made close by its post. Tlitiy vonst on 

 the ground as well as on trees, when near their home, and just where night 

 overtak(!S them. They can fly l)y night as well as by day, when disturljcd, 

 as he has often had occasion to notice, having started them up at all hours 

 of the night. They are very local in their habits, and never wander more 

 than a hundred rods from the drumming-place of the male. This spot 

 seems to be the central point around which thoy live. The young kec]) 

 with the old birds throughout the fall and winter, and select their own 

 homes in the spring, not far from those of their ])arcnts. When a Hock is 

 started up, they .separate and fly in every direction; but if one sits quietly 

 down and keeps perfectly still, in less than an hour he will see them all 

 coming l)ack, on foot, and all at about the same time. 



The eggs of this species measure l.GO inches in length by 1.15 in breadth. 

 They are usually unspotted and of a uniform dark cream-color, occasionally 

 marked with darker blotches of the same. They are of au elongated oval, 

 pointed at one end. 



Bonasa umbellus, var. umbelloides, Douglas. 



THE MOUNTAIN FASTBIOOE. 



TetrcM nmhdioides, Doutu.. Linn, 'riuns. XVI, 1829, 148. Bonasa umbellus, var. umbelMdts, 

 li.viiin, liirds N. Am. ISnS, \>2i) (appendix), lionam umbclloides, Ki.MOT, P. A. N. S. 

 1804. liumtm umbellus, Al'u. — Dall & U.vnnistek, Tr. Cliiwigo, Ac. I, 1869, 287 

 (Alaska, interior). 



Sp. Ciiau. In ]iattern ol" coloration exactly FJniilar to Kwhelhis, but colors tlifferont. 

 Riifoiis tints almost wliolly replaced hy graj', the ground-color of the tail always (ine 

 light ash. N^eck-tiil'ts deep glo.>;sy -black. 



Had. Rocky .\[ountaiiis of the United States, and interior of Briti.sh America, tiom 

 Alaska (on the Yukon) to Canada, where grading into var. nmbellus. 



H.viUTs. Ill regard to the habits of this variety we have no information. 

 It was found by Mr. Drummond among the Kocky Mountains, near the 

 sources of tlio tributaries of the Saskutchewan. He states that those ho 

 met with v,ere at least one third smaller than the iimbdh(s, had a much 

 grayer plumage and a shorter rullle. lie regarded it as a distinct species 

 from the common Partridge, which he also encountered in the same locality. 



Mr. Iiidgway met with this variety on the Wahsatch Mountains in Octo- 

 ber and during the summer. It was known in that locality as the Pine 

 Hen, in distinction from tl., T. obscurus, which was known as the Mountain 

 Grouae. 



