THE GOIiltECTORS' pNTHtY. 



Devoted to Ornithology, Oology and Natural History. 



The Nests and Habit* of the 

 Oregon Grouse. 



Bouasa umbellus sabini. 

 [For the Collectors Monthly.! 

 The adult specimens of these birds are of 

 a dusky or slate blue color. The tail is tip- 

 ed with two bands on the extremity of the 

 tail feathers, the outer band is of a light grey 

 ashy color while the inner band is pure black 

 and about 3-4 of an inch in width. Over the 

 eyes are two semi-circular wattles of bright 

 yellow, extending from the base of the upper 

 mandible back of the eye about 3-8 of an inch 

 having a soft velvety appearance. The feath- 

 ers of these birds are much lighter during 

 the summer, changing from blue to greyish 

 brown. The nests of this species are always 

 placed on the ground in a shallow depres- 

 sion in the earth which is roughly lined with 

 grass and surrounded with straws and a few 

 sticks. 



The nests are rather a crude affair at best, 

 and are generally placed in old clearings, 

 where wild pea vine or timothy has grown 

 up or been sown; thus giving their nest's 

 and young better protection from their most 

 dreaded enemies; Hawks and the common 

 skunk. 



Their eggs are considerably less than those 

 of the domestic fowl and are of a creamy 

 white spotted with light brown blotches with 

 the spots more thick at the base than the 

 apex of the egg. The number of eggs in a 

 set as a rule range from 10 to 16 although I 

 have taken sets of only 4 and 5 eggs. 



In the summer these birds live on grain 

 and can always be found around wheat fields. 

 When the fall rains set in they seek the foot 

 hills and in early winter begin to go to roost 



in the young fir timber on the foot hills al- 

 ways selecting a thick grove 01 a high knoll 

 well protected from high winds. Their win- 

 ter food is principally young fir buds which 

 they crop from the trees in which they roost 

 The first few warm days in the spring the 

 males begin to hoot and continue to do so 

 until late in the summer. Most of the hoot- 

 ers select very large fir trees at this time of 

 the year and sit very high up when hooting. 



Their neck skin becomes covered with yel- 

 low spots resembling small blisters while 

 hooting and when hooting can be distended 

 until their necks are as large as a mans arm. 

 The old males call is rather hard to imitate; 

 on paper at least, and consists of 4 or 5 hoots 

 in quick sucession. The female utters only 

 one cry in the breeding season which con- 

 sists of one long drawn plaintive hoot. The 

 courtship of these birds is something verv 

 amusing and interesting also for the reason 

 that few collectors can claim the honor and 

 pleasure of witnessing this strange spectacle. 

 I once had the pleasure of witnessing part of 

 a grouse courtship. I had been out hunting 

 one day last spring until about 4 o'clock in 

 the afternoon and had paused to rest on an 

 old oak log near a little glade in the timber. 

 I had perhaps been seated five minutes, 

 when I was disturbed by the flutter of wings, 

 and glancing behind me I saw to mv surprise 

 an old "hooter" with his tail spread in all 

 the splendor of an old male turkey, his wings 

 draging along among the dry leaves not 30 

 feet away from me, cutting a big circle 

 around his mate who stood gazing at him in 

 a meek and apparently admiring frame of 

 mind. At the end of each semicircle the 

 old fellow would spin around like a top 

 producing a sound similar to that of a strut- 

 ting turkey. This continued for some 

 minutes, the hen cackling all the time while 

 the male would stop and hoot occasionally. 

 Finally my dog burst through the bushes 

 and both birds taking fright at the intruder 

 sailed away out of sight. 



Clay McNamee. 



Moscow, Idaho. 



