160 BIRDS 



This species is about the size of the Eastern variety. 

 Its head is ornamented with a beautifully full, soft occipi- 

 tal crest. The head of the male is singularly striped with 

 black and white. The female is smaller and is quite differ- 

 ent in color, but may be recognized by the generic char- 

 acters. The tail is short and full, and the claws very large. 



The quail makes a simple nest on the ground, under 

 the edge of some old log, or in the thick grass on the prai- 

 rie, lined with soft and well-dried grass and a few feathers. 

 From fifteen to twentj'-four white eggs are laid. The 

 female sits three weeks. The young brood, as soon as they 

 are fairly out of the sheU, leave the nest and seem abun- 

 dantly strong to follow the parent, though they are no big- 

 ger than the end of one's thumb, covered with down. The 

 massena quail is an inhabitant of the Western and South- 

 western States. 



THE DUSKY GROUSE • 



Under various names, as Blue Grouse, Grey Grouse, 

 Mountain Grouse, Pine Grouse, and Fool-hen, this species, 

 which is one of the finest birds of its family is geograph- 

 ically distributed cliiefly throughout the wooded and espe- 

 cially the evergreen regions of the Rocky Mountains to the 

 Pacific and northward into British America. Its food and 

 habits are similar to those of the ruffed grouse. Its food 

 consists of insects and the berries and seeds of the pine 

 cone, the leaves of the pines, and the buds of trees. It has 

 also the same habits of budding in the trees during deep 

 snows. In the blue grouse, however, this habit of remain- 

 ing and feeding in the trees is more decided and constant. 



