TETRAO OBSCUEUS, DUSKY GROUSE. 395 



brown, tawny, and white, and is rather less in size than the male: but 

 she has the orange-browu tail-bar, and is substantially of the same form 

 as the male. 



Yav. fmnUini only differs in wanting the orange-brown tail-band, and 

 in having the upper tail-coverts, which are plain in true canadensis, con- 

 spicuously spotted with white. In this lack of the terminal band ou 

 the tail there is shown an interesting parallelism with the Rocky Mount- 

 ain var. richardsoni of T. ohscurus. 



As already observed, the Canada Grouse is chiefly a boreal bird, 

 reaching but a little way over our border. It is common in tbe conifer- 

 ous forests of Northern New England, but only casually seen as far 

 south as Massachusetts. In Minnesota, where it finds congenial resorts, 

 it is abundant; but I never observed it in Northern Dakota, where the 

 country is too dry and open. While along the northern boundary, how- 

 ever, I heard of a "Black Chicken," which I suppose was this species, 

 and there is reason to expect its occurrence on the wooded Pembina and 

 Turtle Mountains. There is nothing to indicate that it ever comes 

 further south in this longitude. 



Var. franliini is the only form to be properly included among the 

 birds of the Missouri region, and even this is only found in the mount- 

 ains, about the sources of the river and some of its tributaries. Dr. 

 Cooper, who found it abundant in the Eocky and Bitter-root Mount- 

 ains, also ascertained its occurrence in the Cascade Kange, where, he 

 says, it lives among the spruces and pines, particularly in swauipy tracts, 

 feeding on the buds and leaves of various couiferte. Dr. Suckley de- 

 termined its abundance in Saint Mary's Valley of the Eocky Mountains. 

 It does not appear to have been met with by any of the parties with 

 whicli Dr. Haydeu has been connected. 



The eggs of Franklin's Grouse and the Canada Grouse are indistin- 

 guishable. They are less elongate than those of T. ohscurus, broader at 

 the butt, and more pointed — approaching the characteristic pointed 

 shape of Partridge eggs, and being like those of Ptarmigan in size and 

 shape. The following measurements of selected examples from a large 

 series show the size, shape, and range of variation : 1.70 by 1.25; 1.70 by 

 1.20; 1.G5 by 1.25; 1.(35 by 1.15. High in the oviduct the egg is creamy- 

 white, as I see by some examples in the Smithsonian stated to have 

 been cut out of the bird. This color is washed over to a varying degree 

 of intensity with rich chestnut-brown — generally pale, a " creamy "- 

 brown — and is further dotted, spotted, sometimes even splashed and 

 blotched, with a very dark, heavy shade of the same color, the mark- 

 ings being numerous, strong, and bold, of no determinate shape, and 

 wholly irregularly distributed. These markings are only an intensifi- 

 cation, in spots, of the groundcolor, but are very heavy, and, in com- 

 parison with those of other Grouse, show a decided approach to the 

 peculiarly dark and heavy pattern of Ptarmigan eggs — the nearest ap- 

 proach made among American Grouse. 



TETEAO OBSCUEUS, Say. 

 Dusky Grouse; Blue Grouse; Pine Grouse. 



Teirao ohscurus. Say, Long's Exped. E. Mts. ii, 1823, 14, 20a (not of Swainson and 

 Ri<:liardsoii.)~liP., Syn. 1828, 1-27 ; Am. Philos. Traua. iii, 1830, 391 ; Am. Orn. 

 iii, 1330, p. 189, pi. 18.— (?) .Mutt., Man. i, 1832, 638.— (?) Aud., Oru. Biog. iv, 

 1838, 44G, pi. 361 ; Syn. 1839, 203 ; B. Am. i, 184J, 89, pi. 295.— WooBH., Sitgr. 

 Eep. 1853, 96 (Santa F6, N. M.).— Xjswc, P. E. E. Eep. vi, 1857, 93.— ScL., P. 

 Z. S. 1858, 1.— Bd., B. N. a. 1858, 620.— Heerm., P. E. E. Eep. Ix, 18.19, [it. vi, 

 61.— Hayd., Eep. 1862, 172.— Coop., B. Cal. i, 1870, 528.— Allkx, Bull. JI. C. Z. 

 iii, 1872, 181.— Hold., Pr. Best. Soc. xv, 1872, 208.— CouES, Key, 1872, 233. 



