THE
DUSKY GROUSE.
| UNDER various names, as Blue Grouse,
Grey Grouse, Mountain Grouse, Pine Grouse, and Fool-hen,
this species, which is one of the finest birds of its
family, is geographically distributed chiefly throughout
the wooded and especially the evergreen regions of the
Rocky Mountains to the Pacific and northward into British
America. In the mountains of Colorado Grouse is found on
the border of timber line, according to Davie, throughout
the year, going above in the fall for its principal food
— grasshoppers. In summer its flesh is said to be
excellent, but when frost has cut short its diet of
insects and berries it feeds on spruce needles and its
flesh acquires a strong flavor. Its food and habits are
similar to those of the Ruffed Grouse. Its food consists
of insects and the berries and seeds of the pine cone,
the leaves of the pines, and the buds of trees. It has
also the same habits of budding in the trees during deep
snows. In the Blue Grouse, however, this habit of
remaining and feeding in the trees is more decided and
constant, and in winter they will fly from tree to tree,
and often are plenty in the pines, when not a track can
be found in the snow. It takes keen and practiced eyes to
find them in the thick branches of the pines. They do not
squat and lie closely on a limb like a quail, but stand
up, perfectly still, and would readily be taken for a
knot or a broken limb. If they move at all it is to take
flight, and with a sudden whir they are away, and must be
looked for in another tree top. Hallock says that is common with the Ruffed Grouse (see BIRDS, Vol. I, p. 220), the packs have a habit of scattering in winter, two or three, or even a single bird, being often found with no others in the vicinity, their habit of feeding in the trees tending to separate them. |
The
size of the Dusky Grouse is nearly twice that of the
Ruffed Grouse, a full-grown bird weighing from three to
four pounds. The feathers are very thick, and it seems
fitly dressed to endure the vigor of its habitat, which
is in the Rocky Mountains and Sierra Nevada country only,
and in the pine forests from five to ten thousand feet
above the level of the sea. The latter height is
generally about the snow line in these regions. Although
the weather in the mountains is often mild and pleasant
in winter, and especially healthy and agreeable from the
dryness and purity of the atmosphere, yet the cold is
sometimes intense. Some years ago Mr. Hallock advised that the acclimation of this beautiful bird be tested in the pine forests of the east. Though too wild and shy, he said, to be domesticated, there is no reason why it might not live and thrive in any pine lands where the Ruffed Grouse is found. Since the mountain passes are becoming threaded with railroads, and miners, herders, and other settlers are scattering through the country, it will be far easier than it has been to secure and transport live birds or their eggs, and it is to be hoped the experiment will be tried. This Grouse nests on the ground, often under shelter of a hollow log or projecting rock, with merely a few pine needles scratched together. From eight to fifteen eggs are laid, of buff or cream color, marked all over with round spots of umber-brown. |