DUSKY GROUSE. 41 
THE DUSKY GROUSE. 
(I>rn(lruf/ainis olhsciiriis. )" 
The dusky, or bliii', <jfr()ns(' lives mainly in coniferous foi'csts of the 
wcstorn mountain ran<i:('s, (H'('urrin<; in (he Rockv Mountains from 
Now Mexico, Arizona, and Colorado, north to Canada and Alaska, 
and west to the Pacific coast. These, grouse are large, plainly colored 
birds, mainly of a slaty or dusky shade. In unfrecjuented forests 
they are so unsophisticated that they often perch on a low branch and 
ga/A' curiously at an intruder until struck by a stone or stick. Frouj 
their unsuspicious nature they are known in parts of the West, like 
the j)revious species, as fool-hens. WTiile commonly habitants of the 
liigher forests, they often descend to lower levels on the mountain 
sides where deciduous trees and bushes mingle with the conifers. 
The dusky grouse is a valuable food bird and weighs from 2^ to 
3^ pounds. Wilbur C. Knight says : '' 
Of all the edible birds of the west this and the following; variety [Richard- 
son's grouse] are the most desirable. The flesh is highly flavored, tender, juicy, 
and as white as that of a tame fowl. 
The flavor of a game bird's flesh is often affected by the character 
of its diet, as is the case with the blue grouse after it has been feeding 
on the pitchy foliage of conifers. " The use of such food imparts to 
the flesh of these birds," says Major Bendire, " a strong resinous 
flavor, not particularly relished by me at first." ^ Baird, Brewer, and 
Ridgway, however, state that the pine taste only improves the bird's 
gamy flavor.'^ Vernon Bailey states that half-grown young of the 
blue grouse which had been feeding largely on gooseberries were 
excellent eating, being entirely free from pitchiness. George B. 
Grinnell, editor of Forest and Stream, notes that a diet of a small 
species of red whortleberry also makes the flesh delicious.*^ 
As an object of sport the blue grouse is in the front rank of game 
birds, even though it spends much time in the deep coniferous for- 
ests. It lies well to the dog, flies swiftly, and affords shots in heavy 
timber that test the sportsman's highest skill. 
a In addition to the common dusky grouse (Dcndraf/oiniM ohsciirus) of the 
Itocky Mountains from New Mexico to Montana, three other geographic foruis 
are known. These are the sooty grouse (/>. o. fulif/iiiosKs) of the northwest 
coast, from California to southern Alaska; liichardson grouse (/). o. rirlianl- 
sotii), from Montana to northwestern British America; and the Sierra dusky 
grouse (/>. o, sierra) of the Sierra Nevada in California .-md «'Mst slopo of Cas- 
cade Mountains in Oregon. 
f^ Birds of Wyoming, p. .54. 11)02. 
''Auk, vol. C, p. .3.-^, 1881). 
dHist. N. A. Birds, vol. '.\, pp. 4L'4-42.'., 1874. 
e Forest and Stream, vol. 12, p. :*.(>.'), 1871). 
