126 LAND BIRDS 



little flock, teaching them with infinite patience all that 

 they need to know of wood lore. He stands on guard 

 at every suspicious noise, and whistles his warning when 

 danger threatens. AVhen their wing-feathers have devel- 

 oped and they can flutter up to a low branch in the bush, 

 they roost there instead of cuddling under the mother's 

 broad wings at night. But they remain with the parents 

 and evidently under discipline throughout the first six 

 or eight months of their existence. In the wintry 

 weather, when their mountain homes are covered deep 

 with snow, they often sleep huddled together deep in a 

 drift, waking to feed upon the buds of the coniferous 

 trees, but seldom seeking a lower level. They are the 

 hardy mountaineers, the children of the forest ranges. 



300c. OREGON RUFFED GROUSE. —Sonera 



umhellus sabini. 



Family : The Grouse, Partridges, Quails, etc. 



Length: 15.00-19.00. 



Adult Male: Rough iridescent black, upper parts mottled dark brown 



and black, tail rusty dark brown ; under parts heavily barred with 



black and brown. 

 Adult Female: Similar to male, and with neck tufts less developed. 

 Young: Similar to adult female, but browner, and neck tufts entirely 



wanting. 

 Downy Young : Upper parts chestnut-brown ; deeper on under wings and 



rump; under parts butf ; a conspicuous black line from corner of eye 



through ear tufts. 

 Geographical Distribution: Humid transition and boreal zones and the 



coast ranges from Humboldt County, California, to the noithern 



limits of Washington. 

 California Breeding Range: The humid coast boreal from Cape Mendo- 

 cino northward. 



