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DUSKY GROUSE. 



n^HIS species and its two races are, next to the Cock- 

 of-the-Plains, the largest Grouse in the United 

 States. The three forms range from New Mexico in 

 the south, to Sitka, Alaska, in the north, and grade into 

 each other at different points of their dispersion. Various 

 names, besides the one at the head of this article, sucli 

 as Pine Hen, Blue, Pine, and Gray Grouse are applied 

 to these birds, no particular one being confined to any 

 especial form, but in several localities the same name is 

 given to the different races. The present species, the 

 Dusky Grouse of naturalists, ranges from southern 

 Idaho, east to western South Dakota, and then through 

 portions of Wyoming, Nevada, Utah, and Colorado, 

 through the northern half of Arizona to the southern 

 part of New Mexico. It is not found in California. It 

 is essentially a bird of the high mountains, and ranges to 

 the limits of timber, coming down in winter to perhaps 

 an altitude of 2000 feet, and dwells mainly in the forests 

 of the thick spruce and fir. Solitary in its habits it is 

 frequently found alone or in small parties of perhaps half 

 a dozen individuals, and is of a roving, restless nature, 

 and delights in rough hillsides and mountain summits, 

 frequently changing its abode. The food consists of 

 leaves, berries, buds of the pines — resorting to these last 

 only in winter when the snow is deep — insects of all 

 kinds, especially grasshoppers, worms, and grubs. In the 

 spring the male struts exactly like the Turkey Gobbler; 

 puffing out his feathers, dropping the wings, spreading 



90 



