THE DUSKY GROUSE 



( Dendragapus obscurus. ) 



The Dusky Grouse is known by sev- 

 eral common names. It is also called 

 very properly the Mountain and Pine 

 Grouse, for it inhabits the pine regions. 

 Pine Hen, Blue, Gray and Fool Grouse 

 are names sometimes applied to it. Per- 

 haps the latter name is the most fitting, 

 for it often does what seems to be very 

 foolish. An observer in Colorado has 

 said: "Until almost fully grown they 

 are very foolish ; flushed they will tree 

 at once, in the silly belief that they are 

 out of danger, and will quietly suffer 

 themselves to be pelted with clubs and 

 stones until they are struck down one 

 after another. With a shot gun, of 

 course, the whole covey is bagged with- 

 out much trouble; and as they are, in 

 my opinion, the most delicious of all 

 grouse for -the table, they are gathered 

 unsparingly.'* To the sportsmen of the 

 far western United States this Grouse 

 occupies the same exalted position that 

 the ruffed grouse does in the minds of 

 the eastern lover of game birds. 



These handsome birds inhabit the ev- 

 ergreen forests of their range, which in- 

 cludes quite a large portion of the Rocky 

 Mountain region of the United States. 

 There are two varieties of this species 

 besides the birds of our illustration. 

 They are known as the sooty grouse and 

 Richardson's grouse. The range of the 

 three varieties "extends from Alaska, 

 southward to New Mexico. The range 

 of the Dusky Grouse is generally con- 

 sidered as limited to the Rocky Moun- 

 tains, from central Montana and south- 

 eastern Idaho to New Mexico and Ari- 

 zona, eastward to the Black Hills of 

 South Dakota and westward into Ne- 

 vada. 



Dr. Newberry considered this Grouse 

 the handsomest of all the American birds 

 of its family. Regarding their habits, 

 the Doctor has said: ''When on the 

 ground they lie very close, flying up from 



your feet as you approach them, and 

 when flushed always take to a tree ; while 

 sitting on a tree you may fire as many 

 times as is necessary to hit the bird be- 

 fore you can dislodge it. In the spring 

 the male, seated motionless on a branch 

 of pine or fir where it issues from the 

 trunk, makes a booming call, which, by 

 a remarkable ventriloquial power, serves 

 rather to mislead than direct the sports- 

 man, and, unless experienced in shooting 

 this kind of Grouse, he will be likely to 

 spend much time, with nothing to show 

 for it, in a vain search for the bird." 

 Even though sitting upon a tree directly 

 over one's head, the voices of these birds 

 seem to come from quite a remote lo- 

 cality. The mating notes of the male 

 have been described as prolonged and 

 similar to that produced by a rattan cane 

 whirled rapidly through the air. This 

 peculiar sound is said to be produced 

 *'by inflating, and contracting a sac on 

 each side of the throat, which for the 

 most part is concealed when collapsed, 

 and is covered with an orange-yellow, 

 thick, corrugated, unfeathered skin." 

 This area, however, is surrounded by a 

 frill of white feathers edged with dusky. 

 This is the period, too, when the males 

 feel their importance and strut through 

 their habitat with a display of their 

 plumage. 



The Dusky Grouse nest upon the 

 ground, where the female makes a slight 

 depression in the ground, often under the 

 shelter of an old log or a projecting 

 rock, or in underbrush, and sometimes 

 in an open area. The nests may be lined 

 with pine needles or other leaves, or if 

 built in the midst of growing grass, by 

 breaking and pressing down the grass. 

 From eight to ten eggs are laid and the 

 time of incubation lasts about three 

 weeks, when the mother leads forth her 

 young, which she cares for in a very 

 devoted manner. The males do not as- 



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