170 NESTS AND E&OS OF 



which, commences in March. The sound is produced by the bird while standing on 

 a fallen log or elevated rock in the most retired portion o£ the woods; the wings 

 are lowered, tail expanded, the neck contracted, and the entire body seems inflated. 

 The tufts of neck feathers are eleyated, the bird all the while strutting about in the 

 most pompous manner possible to imagine, striking the sides of his body with rapid 

 strokes of his wings. These become so rapid that the sound thus produced resem- 

 bles the rumblings of remote thunder, and the sounds always seem nearer than they 

 really are. Under favorable circumstances this Grouse not infrequently rears two 

 broods between the first of April and the middle of October. The nest is usually sit- 

 uated at the border of a large woods in the midst of dense undergrowth, often in a 

 thicket, not far from the roadside, and very frequently the birds venture to con- 

 struct it in a small woods adjoining a farm house. The position of the nest is on 

 the ground beside a log or stump, or in a brush heap, or under the branches of a 

 fallen tree. It is constructed of decayed leaves, a few feathers, roots, etc. From six 

 to fifteen eggs are deposited, usually tenor twelve; they are of a cream color of various 

 shades, some times so dark as to be nearly brownish, and in others the surface is al- 

 most milk-white. They are often stained in wet weather by the leaves upon which 

 they lie, and are sometimes faintly blotched or speckled with shades of brown. Mr. 

 L. Jones, writing from Iowa, says that the eggs in that vicinity are deposited about 

 May first. Ten eggs measure 1.54x1.10, 1.51x1.13, 1.54x1.13, 1.54x1.14, 1.51x1.12, 1.56x 

 1.13, 1.55x1.14, 1.53x1.12. 1.57x1.14. 



300a. CANADIAN BUFFED GROUSE. Bonasa umbellus tdffata (Linn.) Geog. 

 Dist. — Eastern Oregon and Washington Territory, east to Moose Factory, Nova 

 Scotia, M-aine, etc. 



Eggs supposed to belong to this darker colored variety of Ruffed Grouse in my 

 collection from Northern Maine do not differ from those of B. umbellus. 



3006. GRAY EUFFED GROUSE. Bonasa umbellus umbelloides (Dougl.) Geog. 

 Dist. — Rocky Mountain Region north to Alaska, east to Manitoba. 



The upper parts of this bird are mostly or entirely grayish, and the tail is always 

 of a gray color. It is found in the wooded districts of the Rocky Mountain region of 

 the United States, and as far north as the Yukon valley in Alaska, in British Amer- 

 ica, east to Manitoba. In the late Capt. Goss's collection there is a set of five eggs 

 of this bird taken at Estes Park, Colorado, May 28, 1884. They are creamy buff; 

 some of the specimens are almost or quite immaculate, others are faintly and spar- 

 ingly spotted with lilac brown. The eggs in this set are smaller in size and less 

 spotted than the usual spotted examples of B. umbellus, and unless closely examined 

 the marking would scarcely be noticed. These eggs were taken from a nest on the 

 ground; the sizes are as follows: 1.47x1.11, 1.45x1.12, 1.44x1.12, 1.42x1.15. 



300c. OREGON RUFFED GROUSE. Bonasa nrnbellus sabiui (Dougl.) Geog. 

 Dist. — Northwest coast from Northern California to British Columbia. 



This subspecies resembles B. umbellus, but the upper parts are darker rusty- 

 brown; the tail is also usually deep rusty color, rarely grayish. 

 Red Ruffed Grouse. The nesting habits and eggs of this subspecies are essentially 

 the same as those of B. umbellus of the Eastern States. It breeds in Oregon, Wash- 

 ington into British Columbia. The nest is placed in a sunken hollow of the ground, 

 under a bush or branches of a fallen tree, the cavity of the nest being lined with 

 dry leaves, spruce needles and a few feathers. The eggs range from seven to four- 

 teen In number, creamy white in color and average in size 1.56x1.16 inches, 



