NUKTM AMERICAN BlRUii. l(A 



297. BICHABBSON'S GROUSE. DmdrOffapus obscurus riclw/rdsonii (Dougl.) 

 Geog. Dist.— Northern Rocky Mountains of the United States— Central Montana 

 northward into British America. 



This race is more or less common in the various mountain ranges of Montana. 

 Its general habits do not appear to be different from those of D. obscurus. The birds 

 prefer rough and rocky ledges with only a moderate growth of fir to the denser 

 forests. Occasionally they are found away from the mountains in scattered clumps 

 of fir growing on the high bluffs or growing on some of the streams. Their "tooting" 

 is a low, muffled sort of cooing, uttered without vigor or any apparent effort on the 

 bird's part, which may be squatting on some rock at the time. The eggs are cream 

 color, marked with small dots ol reddish-brown; average size 1.84x1.30. Ihey are 

 not distinguishable from those of D. ohscwus, and the nesting habits are the same. 



298. CAIfADA GROUSE. Dendragapus canadensis (Linn.) Geog. Dist. — 

 Northern North America, east of Rocky Mountains, from the Northern portions of 

 New England, New York, Michigan and Minnesota to Alaska. 



Known as the Spruce or Wood Partridge, Canada, Black or Spotted Grouse, and 

 found in all favorable localities, especially the spruce forests and swamp regions 

 from' Northern United States northward, as far as the woods extend in the Arctic 

 regions, and it has been found breeding in Northern Alaska. Audubon found it 

 breeding in the vicinity of Eastport, Maine, in the interior recesses of almost im- 

 penetrable woods of hackmatack or larches. He was informed that the birds breed 

 in the neighborhood about the middle of May, which is a month earlier than they do 

 in Labrador. In the nesting season the males produce the same well-known and 

 peculiar drumming as does the Ruffed Grouse. The female constructs a nest of a bed 

 of dry twigs, leaves and mosses, and is usually carefully hidden, on the ground, 

 under low horizontal branches of fir trees; it is generally placed in quiet and swampy 

 localities. The eggs are of a buffy or reddish brown color, irregularly splashed, dot- 

 ted and spotted with different tints of brown; eight to fourteen in number; average 

 size of ten eggs is 1.70x1.20. The shape is characteristic, being like those of the 

 Ptarmigan in form. 



299. ERANKLIIT'S GROUSE. Dendragapus franklinU (Dougl.) Geog. Dist. — 

 Northern Rocky Mountains, west to the Pacific coast; chiefly north to the United 

 States. 



This bird is held by some authorities as a mere variety of D. canadensis. It is 

 confined to the territory between the Rocky Mountains and the Pacific coast, chiefly 

 in British America. Its habits in all respects are identical with those of canadensis. 

 The nest is made on the ground, of dry leaves and grass, often at the foot of decayed 

 stumps, or by the side of fallen timber in dense mountain woods. The eggs average 

 in size 1.68x1.24. 



300. RUEPED GROUSE. Bonasa imibellus (Linn.) Geog. Dist.— Eastern 

 United States, south to North Carolina, Georgia, Mississippi and Arkansas. 



The Ruffed Grouse, "Pheasant" or "Partridge," is a noted game bird distributed 

 in wooded districts throughout Eastern United States. At the limits of its habitat 

 it is found in several geographical races as is shown by the following sub-species. 

 Its habits in many respects differ from those of the Prairie Hen; the latter is found 

 on open plains, while the Grouse is rarely met with there. The food of the two 

 species is very similar, making the difference in their respective abodes quite strik- 

 ing. The well-known drumming of the male birds is made during the love season. 



