The Dusky Grouse 



There was a teeming ant hill within five feet of the nest, but whether this 

 bothered the bird as much as it did me, I cannot say. 



Chicks are brought off after a three weeks' vigil, and the mother leads 

 her brood about until they are fully grown. When surprised a month 

 later, as at a dustbath, of which they are exceedingly fond, the bantlings 

 rise to the nearest trees and secrete themselves, while the mother makes 

 herself conspicuous in effort to distract attention. Or, if somewhat dis- 

 ciplined by hunting, the covey makes off through the air by twos and 

 threes, endeavoring always to keep the same direction, that they may 

 speedily reassemble when out of harm's way. 



Grouse feed much at the lower levels, and even venture into the open 

 in late summer and early autumn. The babies are fed along willow bot- 

 toms and in the vicinity of streams which will guarantee a supply of needed 

 insect food. Berries come next in line, and only gradually are the young- 

 sters inducted into the grim prosaics of fir buds and other bitter browse, 

 to which they must become inured by wintertime. As the season advances 

 the cocks work their way up to timberline ; and they are followed in due 

 season by the females and the half-grown broods. When the berries are 

 exhausted, the grouse drop down to lower levels again; and at the first 

 touch of bad weather they take to the depths of the trees, where they must 

 subsist for some months upon an exclusive diet of fir needles. 



Sooty Grouse lie well to a dog, but unless previously filled with the 

 fear of man, they are likely to make tame targets, as they rise heavily 

 into the nearest tree, and tamer yet as they sit and look down inquiringly 

 at the hunter. The young of the year, in particular, are very foolish, 

 allowing themselves to be pelted repeatedly with stones until finally 

 struck and killed. This trick has earned for them, in common with other 

 northern species, the name "fool hen." A northern observer claims that 

 Sooty Grouse will hiss like a gander, especially when treed by a dog. The 

 bird will thrust out its neck and peer down defiantly, hissing and squirming 

 in anger over its interrupted meal. 



Under repeated fire, the Wood Grouse learns not only to make away 

 with great celerity, flying down hill if possible, with stiff-set wings, but 

 also to hide quickly in a tree-top, squatting and freezing so perfectly 

 that it requires a practiced eye to detect it. The Indians of the Pacific 

 Coast used to be very skillful on the still-hunt, especially in winter, when 

 even at the lower levels the birds appear to enter a semi-lethargic state. 



The flesh of the Blue Grouse, although much darker than that of the 

 Ruffed Grouse, affords excellent eating in the proper season. The bird 

 attains a goodly size, three, four, or even five pounds, in the case of a 



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