OREGON EUFFED GROUSE 553 



forming a crest; eyelids yellowish; a series of slender, elongated black and 

 brown feathers over ear region; sides of chin sealed with black and buffy white; 

 middle of chin, and throat, buff; bill horn yellow; rest of upper surface, including 

 wings (except primaries) and tail, richly variegated with reddish brown, gray, 

 black, and buffy white, the first named color predominating; the pattern includ- 

 ing bars, stripes, and spots of various shapes, the whole subdued in effect by an 

 extensive vermiculation ; broad subterminal band across tail, brownish black; pri- 

 mary wing feathers blackish brown, outer webs spotted with buff; lining and 

 under surface of wing chiefly grayish brown; band across upper breast, deep 

 reddish brown becoming darker at sides; a shiny black (sometimes partly brown) 

 ruff of soft broad feathers on each side of lower neck, overlapping bend of wing; 

 feathers of lower breast and rest of under surface, buff, marked with bands of 

 brown and tipped with white, the whole producing an interruptedly barred appear- 

 ance; feathering on lower part of leg (tarsus), ashy brown; feet (dried) yellow- 

 ish brown and dusky; females differing from males only in somewhat lesser devel- 

 opment of ruff at sides of neck. Total length (both sexes) "15.50-19.00" 

 inches (394-482 mm.) (Eidgway, 1900, p. 197). Males: Folded wing 6.73-7.52 

 (171-191) ; bill along culmen 0.58-0.68 (14.7-17.3) ; tarsus, 1.66-1.79 (42.0-45.4) 

 (nine specimens from California and Vancouver Island). Females: Folded wing 

 7.01-7.29 (178-185) ; bill along culmen 0.62-0.67 (15.8-17.1) ; tarsus 1.58-1.73 

 (40.1-44.0) (three specimens from California and Vancouver Island). Juvenile 

 plumage: Top of head chiefly brownish black with narrow light brown feather 

 edgings; chin and throat whitish; back, wing coverts and some of tertials, chiefly 

 blackish, with shaft streaks of buffy yellow, and finely variegated with dark cin- 

 namon brown; rump finely barred with duU cinnamon and blackish; tail barred 

 with black, light brown and gray; primaries blackish brown edged with dull cin- 

 namon; feathers of breast light cinnamon brown with terminal black spots and 

 white shafts ; sides and flanks coarsely marked with black, buff and white ; belly 

 barred with blackish brown and dull white; under tail coverts dull buff; leg but 

 scantily clothed with dull White feathers. Natal plumage: Top and sides of head 

 bright cinnamon brown, darkest above; eyelids narrowly, and ear region broadly, 

 marked with black; back chiefly cinnamon brown, darkest along mid -line; under 

 surface yellowish white, with a buffy suffusion across chest. 



Marks tob field identification — Moderately large size (smaller than Sierra 

 or Dusky Grouse), general reddish brown coloration, dark band near end of tail, 

 and conspicuous ruff of black or deep brown feathers on either side of neck. 



Voice — (Of eastern subspecies) in adult, a series of vocal clucks and calls; 

 in female with young, squeals, much like those of a rabbit (Forbush, 1912, p. 377). 

 There is also a characteristic ' ' drumming ' ' by the male, caused by rapid 

 beating of the wings. 



Nest — On ground, often under a spruce tree or similar shelter; a slight 

 depression in the surface, lined with grasses, leaves, needles, and feathers (authors). 



Eggs — 6 to 13, roundly ovate, measuring in inches, 1.50 to 1.73 by 1.14 to 1.24 

 (in millimeters, 38.0 to 44.0 by 29.0 to 31.5), and averaging 1.62 by 1.20 (41.0 by 

 30.5) ; ground-color varying from milky white to pinkish buff; some immaculate, 

 but usually marked rather sparingly though uniformly with small rounded dots 

 ranging in color from reddish brown to pale drab (Bendire, 1892, pp. 63, 69, refer- 

 ring to the several races of Buffed Grouse). 



General distribution — Of the Buffed Grouse and its various subspecies: The 

 wooded regions of Alaska and Canada south to California, Colorado, Kansas, 

 Tennessee, and, in the Alleghenies, to Georgia; of the Oregon Buffed Grouse 

 {sabini) : Coast ranges from Vancouver Island to Humboldt County, California 

 (modified from A. O. U. Check-list, 1910, pp. 139, 140). 



