SOME HABITS OF THE DUSKY GROUSE. 



SYLVAN. 



THE mountain grouse, blue grouse or dusky 

 grouse as it is variously called, is found all 

 over the Rocky mountain region, as well as 

 in the Cascade and Coast ranges In northern 

 Idaho it nests in May, laying eight or ten light 

 brown eggs, in a rude nest built on the ground 

 near a tree or under a small bush. A slight de- 

 pression is made and this is lined sparingly with 

 grass and dead leaves. The nest is almost invari- 

 ably placed on the hillside, or just at the edge of a 

 gully or shallow canyon in the open timber, down 

 near the foothills. The position of the nest is 

 such as to give the bird a good view, up and down 

 and across the canyon, as well as back on the 

 ridge or sloping ground. Instinct teaches it to 



ing cry of danger, understood by the young. It 

 is really surprising how quickly the little fellows 

 can hide, and it is almost impossible to find 

 them. You know exactly where they all were 

 only two seconds ago, but they have disappeared. 

 Still they must be within a few feet of you. You 

 do not like to tramp about much for fear you may 

 crush them, so get down and push aside each 

 brown leaf, or tuft of grass or bunch of pine 

 needles, and you may find one lying perfectly 

 quiet and confident of safety, under a dead leaf, 

 almost the exact color of itself. What a beauty ! 

 A mere ball of yellow and brown, with eyes 

 brighter than dew drops, in which are reflected 

 the dark pines and rocky ledges of its mountain 



1 &<*&* 



THE MOTHER GROUSE ON HER NEST. 



build its nest where it can watch the approach of 

 an enemy from any direction. One of these is 

 the cayote, but probably the eggs are more often 

 destroyed by the red pine squirrel than by any 

 other animal. 



While nesting, the grouse is quite fearless. At 

 least it will sit quietly on the nest, allowing a 

 person on foot to pass within five or six feet of 

 it. Once while riding horseback, through the 

 woods, my pony stepped within a few inches of 

 one and it did not move. 



In the last of May or first of June, depending 

 somewhat on the season, the young grouse are 

 hatched and leave the nest with the mother, at 

 once. Occasionally you may find the old bird with 

 the brood only a few days old. She will flutter off 

 as if wounded, at the same time uttering a warn- 



home. But in this little pulsating, downy mass, 

 are bound up great possibilities. It grows rapidly, 

 and by the middle .of August is as large as a "Bob- 

 white. A month later, its rapid flight through 

 forest isles sends the dead leaves flying. 



Now is the harvest of the eager hunter. The 

 birds are mostly found on the higher levels, and 

 during the middle of the day, while the sun 

 is warm, are often seen playing in dust and 

 ashes of a half burned log, or else sitting con- 

 tentedly on the ground, beneath the low, spread- 

 ing branches of a stunted pine. When startled 

 from their mid-day siesta, they will pitch rapidly 

 down the neighboring canyon into the dense 

 timber and are soon lost to sight. The hunter 

 must be quick and shoot well beneath the fast 

 flying game, or he will surely miss. 



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