_? Tetrao obscurus_, NEWBERRY, P. R. R. Rept. VI, iv, 1857, 93.—COOP.
& SUCKL. 219.—LORD, Pr. R. A. Inst. IV, 122 (British Columbia).—DALL &
BANNISTER, Trans. Chicago Ac. I, 1869, 287 (Alaska).—FINSCH, Ab. Nat.
III, 1872, 61 (Alaska).
SP. CHAR. Beneath plain dark plumbeous, without whitish borders to the
feathers except on flanks and crissum; whole head almost uniformly plain
dusky-black. Tarsi dark plumbeous. Wing, 9.50; tail, 7.50; tarsus, 1.75;
middle toe, 1.80.
_Female_ (11,826, Chiloweyuck Depot, Washington Territory, Aug. 6,
1858; C. B. Kennerly). Above black, broken by transverse mottlings of
bright reddish-brown or rufous; these confused posteriorly, but in form
of regular transverse bars anteriorly. Below dusky-plumbeous, plain
on abdomen, with sagittate spots on jugulum, and deltoid ones on the
flanks, etc., of reddish-white. Length, 20.00; wing, 8.50; tail, 6.30.
_Adult male_ (4,505, Cascade Mountains, Dr. Newberry). Above plain
fuliginous-black, the mottlings scarcely apparent. No white markings on
scapulars; tail-band deep plumbeous, only .60 wide, but well defined.
_Young_ (11,827, Chiloweyuck Depot). Similar to, but much more reddish
than, young of var. _obscurus_.
HAB. Northwest coast region, from Oregon to Sitka.
A male (46,070, May, 1866; Bischoff) from Sitka is much mottled with
bright reddish-rusty on the dorsal region, and washed with the same
on the forehead. (Tail-band .60 of an inch wide). A female (46,073,
Sept., 1866) from same locality is so strongly washed with dark, almost
castaneous, ferruginous as to appear mostly of this color above, this
being very bright on the crown and forehead.
HABITS. This race is the more northern and northwestern coast form of
the Dusky Grouse, and is found from the Columbia River and British
Columbia to Alaska. According to Dr. Suckley, it is generally known as
the Blue Grouse in Oregon, and is also called the Pine Grouse, as well
as the Dusky Grouse. He met with it for the first time when his party
had reached the main chain of the Rocky Mountains, and where they found
it exceedingly abundant, as afterwards in the Blue Mountains of Oregon,
the Cascade Mountains, and in all the timbered country between the Coast
Range and the Pacific Ocean. About the middle of November these birds
are said to entirely disappear, and it is very rare to meet with even
a single individual between that period and the 20th of the following
March. As to their whereabouts during this period there is a great
difference of opinion among the settlers. Some maintain that they are
migratory and retire to the south. Others are of the opinion that they
retire to the tops of the highest evergreen trees, where they pass the
cold season in a state of partial torpor among the thickest foliage of
the branches. As these birds are known to subsist on the leaves of the
_Coniferæ_, and can always obtain sufficient water from the snow and
rain-drops to supply their wants, Dr. Suckley was inclined to favor the
latter explanation of their absence. He saw one of these birds on the
ground during a fall of snow, in January, near the Nisqually River, in
Washington Territory, and he was informed that a hunter near Olympia,
whose eyesight was remarkably excellent, was able, any day during the
winter, to obtain several birds by searching carefully for them among
the tree-tops of the tallest and most thickly leaved firs. This requires
much better eyesight than most men possess, for these birds are of a
sombre hue, crowd very closely to the limb, and sit there immovable.
They are therefore very difficult to find among the dense branches.
The first indication of their presence in spring is the courting call
of the male. This is a prolonged sound, resembling the whir of a rattan
cane moved rapidly through the air. This is repeated several times with
considerable rapidity, and then stops for a brief interval. This is said
to be produced by the alternate inflation and contraction of sacs, one
on each side of the throat, which are usually concealed by the feathers,
and are covered by an orange-colored, thick, corrugated skin. At Fort
Steilacoom these birds were very abundant during the spring and early
summer, and were mostly confined to the forests of firs. Later in the
season, and after hatching, they are more generally found on the ground
in search of berries and seeds. When alarmed, they seek safety among
the dense foliage of the trees, seeming instinctively to understand
the advantage of thus hiding. He has known an entire flock of five,
concealed among the ferns and grass, to be shot one by one, without
an attempt being made by a single individual to fly. This Grouse is
said to be a very fine table bird, its pine taste only adding to its
game-flavor. Their full weight is from 2¾ to 3½ pounds.
Dr. Cooper never met with the nest of eggs of either of the races of the
Dusky Grouse, but in June flocks of half-grown young were killed by the
Indians near Puget Sound. In winter they were so rarely seen west of
the mountains that they are believed to keep entirely in the trees. In
October, 1853, he saw a flock running through the snow near the Spokane
Plains, one of which was shot; but he never afterwards met with any in
the winter.
Mr. J. K. Lord found this Grouse almost exclusively on the western side
of the Rocky Mountains. It appeared at Vancouver, at Nisqually, and
along the banks of the Fraser River, about the end of March, the male
bird announcing his coming by a kind of love-song. This is a booming
noise, repeated at short intervals, and so deceptive that Mr. Lord has
often stood under the tree where the bird was perched and imagined the
sound came from a distance.
Mr. Nuttall found this Grouse breeding in the shady forests of the
region of the Columbia, where he saw or heard them throughout the
summer. He describes the tooting made by the male as resembling the
sound caused by blowing into the bung-hole of a barrel. They breed on
the ground, and are said to keep the brood together all winter.
Townsend describes the eggs as numerous, of a cinereous-brown color,
blunt at both ends, and small for the bird. The actions of the female,
when the young are following her, are said to be exactly similar to
those of the Ruffed Grouse, employing all the artifices of that bird in
feigning lameness, etc., to draw off intruders.
Canace obscurus, var. richardsoni, DOUGLAS.