9Q DUSKY GROUSE. 



in order, beginning with what is stated respecting it in the Fauna Boreali- 

 Americana by the first of these naturalists. 



"This large Grouse inhabits the Rocky Mountains from latitude 40° to 

 60°, and perhaps to a greater extent, for the limits of its range either 

 northward or southward have not been ascertained. It has been known to 

 the fur-traders for nearly thirty years; but it was first introduced to the 

 scientific world by Mr. Say, who, in 1820, accompanied Major Long to the 

 source of the Missouri; and a female specimen, deposited by him in the 

 Philadelphia Museum, has lately been figured by the Prince of Mtjsignano 

 in his continuation of Wilson's Ornithology. I had no opportunity of 

 observing the habits of this bird myself, but was informed by Mr. 

 Drummond that, in the mornings during pairing time, "the usual station of 

 the male is on some rocky eminence or large stone, where he sits swelling 

 out the sides of his neck, spreading his tail, and repeating the cry of 

 "Coombe, Coombe," in a soft hollow tone." Its food consists of various 

 berries, and its flesh is very palatable. Mr. Alexander Stewart, a chief- 

 factor of the Hudson's Bay Company, who has often crossed the mountains, 

 informs me that the males of this species fight each other with such ani- 

 mosity, that a man may take one of them up in his hand before it will quit 

 its antagonist." 



Dr. Richardson adds in a note, that "the description and figure of Mr. 

 Say's specimen agree so completely with our younger female specimens, 

 that there can be no doubt of their specific identity; but it is proper to 

 observe that there is some discrepancy in the dimensions. The Prince of 

 Mtjsignano states the total length of the bird to be eighteen inches, that of 

 the wing nine inches and a half. The wing of the largest of our males is 

 scarcely so long; while the biggest of our females, measuring twenty-one 

 inches in total length, has a wing barely eight inches long. This, perhaps, 

 merely indicates the uncertainty of measurements taken from prepared 

 specimens. Mr. Douglas's specimens in the Edinburgh Museum are of 

 younger birds than ours, but evidently the same species." These remarks 

 correspond with what I have so often repeated, that age, sex, and different 

 states of moult, produce disparities in individuals of the same species. 



Mr. Townsend, in the notes with which he has favoured me, has the 

 following observations: — "Dusky Grouse, Tetrao obscurus. Qul-al-lalleun 

 of the Chinooks. First found in the Blue Mountains, near Wallah Wallah, 

 in large flocks, in September. Keep in pine woods altogether, never found 

 on the plains; they perch on the trees. Afterwards found on the Columbia 

 river in pairs in May. The eggs are numerous, of a cinereous-brown colour, 

 blunt at both ends, and small for the size of the bird. The actions of the 

 female, when the young are following her, are precisely the same as the 



