srereneaesteerere ys
PTT eink
seledetisie’>
ranpr
sinatra
sjake elecereiretstety|
epupesreterertee ita rt
(eleqeceen(s
sists
Gaisleieieie
Sagat slotees
TT eis
a
wladatatet
Dit etere(ete
TESTU ET Th ts tate eh te
sieisistecs
Aaleisigteeeap ice
Spe ep sietetriek
aed et ele dane:
Pet aiat a Teleco tated et eiad eis,
eapeerprenprenbrestrerere tate
Reteastsisisley af peprerereseroleierts
[erated lovee ett sisiees ised
SRST ial oiriedtses ts trie Tarte
prorpapreabieyeuppa ETRIBIDAE Ord tbe Gibtan eae errr
pepterests orererts jeteinincen tet
porstabaretaseteresiers) Aalst
STL Tel eved et eet st =f
pravmeoreseree eles ei ttins
prerorieteerearisr ee eit
ry qelsuees tee eC nian s Cotneed
uasearerereney prstserertatay
reresereredi
eisisingeinet
ATi teenie
: sislelelristebeued sd Hz47
eee sastedeleete (eteusdstetsd
Sit Siatet alate
A sleieee a iets
esproresare yi
stag taloer:
Uisdelelelesetel
roriey eee
ehaltieiet
Aeisieleletels
a
»y
Me
MA
SMITHSONIAN INSTITUTION.
UNITED STATES NATIONAL MUSEUM.
SpeciaL Bunuetin No. 1.
LIFE HISTORIES
OF
NOE ES 2Vitdin iC AUN Bh Ds
WITH SPECIAL REFERENCE TO
THEIR, BREEDING HABITS AND EGGS,
WITH
TWELVE LITHOGRAPHIC PLATES,
BY
CHARLES BENDIRE, Capratin, U.S. ARMY (RETIRED),
Honorary Curator of the Department of Odlogy, U. S. National Museum,
Member of the American Ornithologists’ Union.
WASHINGTON:
GOVERNMENT PRINTING OFFICE
LOO Ao
IO VISIR TE Sle MAINT.
This work (Special Bulletin No. 1) is one of a series of papers intended to
illustrate the collections belonging to, or placed in charge ot, the Smithsonian
Institution, and deposited in the U. 8. National Museum.
The publications of the National Museum consist of two series: the Bulletin
and the Proceedings. A small edition of each paper in the Proceedings is
distributed in pamphlet form to specialists in advance of the publication of the
bound volume. The Bulletin is issued only in volumes. Those hitherto pub-
lished have been octavos, but it has been decided that for works of the size and
character of the present Bulletin the quarto form is preferable.
The Bulletin of the U.S. National Museum, the publication of which was
commenced in 1875, consists of elaborate papers based upon the collections of the
Museum, reports of expeditions, etc. The Proceedings are intended to facilitate
the prompt publication of freshly acquired facts relating to biology, anthropology,
and geology, descriptions of restricted groups of animals and plants, discussions
of particular questions relative to the synonymy of species, and the diaries of
minor expeditions.
Other papers of more general popular interest are printed in the appendix
to the annual report.
Full lists of the publications.of the Museum may be found in the current
catalogue of the publications of the Smithsonian Institution.
Papers intended for publication in the Proceedings and Bulletin of the U.S.
National Museum are referred to the Advisory Committee on Publications, com-
posed as follows: 'T. H. Bean (chairman), A. Howard Clark, R. E. Earll, Otis T.
Mason, Leonhard Stejneger, Frederick W. True, and Lester F. Ward.
S. P. Laneney,
Secretary of the Smithsonian Institution.
Wasuineron, D. C., May 6, 1892.
1 BV Ib Ore (CO IN IE BIN ITs:
GALLINACEOUS BIRDS.
0. Family TeTRaonipas. Grouse, Partridges, etc.
Page,
1. Colinus virginianus..-.....-...--...----- LO) \iovting GPG IE Wt, 1D) sosc0s haoson beac ope Senses sese 1
2. Colinus virginianus floridanus...---.-.-- RloridayBob Wwhivese. ses sean es eecee eee eee cee 7
3. Colinus virginianus texanus .........---- ANGE IE MVNO) ooo h5c sodGasuedudodese seco Sad ous Secone 8
4. Colinus virginianus cubanensis ---..-.--. CubansbobaWwihitererpe testes serie see eames vo enes semua ye 9
ba Colimusiridowaydem=ss=eeee as ssc = see aa: Wlesieod ISO O ANN) ce. coseen Gecdcubasone edsees dobaseus 10
6. Oreortyx pictus ...--.....2...2........-- Mountain ge artrid ¢ eyrne sete eeee eee ee eae 13
7. Oreortyx pictus plumiferus .....--.---.-- Plumed Partridge (Pl. I, Figs. 2,3) ....-............-... 14
8. Oreortyx pictus confinis .....-..-.--.---- Sangbedrosrantridgerrern cece seers secesocace ose ee. n ae 17
9. Callipepla squamata...............-.---. Sealed Partridge (PI. I, Figs. 4,5) .-.-....-.-.........-. 18
10. Callipepla squamata castanogastris.--.-- Chestnut-bellied Scaled Partridge (Pl. I, Figs. 6,7) -.... 22
11. Callipepla californica.._.........--..---- California Partridge (Pl. I, Figs. 8-10) ......-..-....... 23
12. Callipepla californica vallicola..-....---- Walley Mrartrid@ess=sese sss seseeccse Staaten 26
13. Callipepla gambeli ..-.-...---..----.---- Gambel’s Partridge (Pl. I, Figs. 11-14) ...........2..... 29
14. Cyrtonyx montezume -.----.-..-.------- Massena Partridge (Pl. I, Fig. 15) -....-............... 35
15. Dendragapus obscurus...--...-.-..-.---- ID WEN CROWS) c coooeogbo sonqodadedar saan scoses soaues 41
16. Dendragapus obscurus fuliginosus - .----- Sooty Grouse (Pl. I, Figs. 16-19)...........-.. 2.222.222. 43
17. Dendragapus obseurus richardsonii . ----- ichardsonis| Grouse mere eae eee eee ees eee eee een eee 50
18. Dendragapus canadensis. ...-..---.------ Canada Grouse (Pl. I, Figs. 20-23)........-............- 51
19. Dendragapus franklinii ....-../.-....---- IDnera tS bias) COWS > cocaes So00 cosas sesons soca soaassose 56
20. Bonasa umbellus ...-....---. .----------- levine! Carnes (2, ING, Iter, Ib)) 325 socona condeecoonas cons 59
21. Bonasa umbellus togata.....--..----.---- Canadian Ruffed Grouse (Pl. II, Fig. 2) .-......-....... 64
22. Bonasa umbellus umbelloides .-..--..--.. Gray Ruffed Grouse (Pl: Il, Fig. 3). -22--22222.2-2 2h 67
23. Bonasa umbellus sabini -..-....-.---.---- OreronwhiuttediG rouse) Ge] anes hi ocd) ey ee eee 68
24, Lagopus lagopus. -----.-.-..--.----+------ Willow Ptarmigan (Pl. II, Figs. 5-10)...--............. 69
25. Lagopus lagopus alleni -...-.....-.-.---- INUGMS TMNT s sos soedeog cosas Seogcdeaan eooacasecs 15
26. Lagopus rupestris --.-.-..----...-.------ Rock Ptarmigan (Pl. II, Figs. 11-15) --................. 15
27. Lagopus rupestris reinhardti...-.....-.-- Rembhard tae tat mlo anaes pee renee ere a eee eae 18
28. Lagopus rupestris nelsoni.-...-.-..------ NGLIEOMS PIPING. ooosa0 coca descdo ese asco woonoASanaae 80
29. Lagopus rupestris atkhensis..........---- Murmernssetarmiloanere eee eee eee eee ee eee seen 81
+30) Wagopus welchi-: = 225-2. 222-2222. 22+ -2-- Wrelchissetarmiganteeeee rest terse i eeene eee e eee aeee 82
31. Lagopus leucurus.-..........-.-.---.-.-. White-tailed Ptarmigan (Pl. II, Figs. 16,17)..-......... 83
32. Tympanuchus americanus........--..---- ErairieyHen\ (pli phigs ol 8-20) pees ee saes anes sae ee 88
33. Tympanuchus cupido................---- lelornn Jaen (PL IDM, Wie 2) bans coos ccadsasace cacdorbeue 93
34. Tympanuchus pallidicinctus .............Lesser Prairie Hen (Pl. II, Fig. 1)...........-...------ 96
35. Pediocetes phasianellus.-.-...--.-.------ Sharp-tailed Grouse (Pl. III, Figs. 3-5).-...-...-....... 97
36. Pediocetes phasianellus columbianus. - -.. Columbian Sharp-tailed Grouse (Pl. IIT, Figs. 6-8)...... 98
37. Pediocetes phasianellus campestris -....- Prairie Sharp-tailed Grouse (Pl. III, Figs. 9,10).....-.-. 101
38. Centrocercus urophasianus......---.----- Sage Grouse (PI. III, Figs, 11-13),............-----.---- 106
Family PHASIANIDZ. Pheasants, etc.
39. Meleagris gallopavo......-....--- 5086 266 Murkceye (EAP E T o:set 4) ae seee are ey geeeceieia Oay 112
40, Meleagris gallopavo mexicana.......-.--- Mexican@Rurkey) (Pj MN, Wig) 15) eee see seen ce eercce 116
Family Cracip®. Curassows and Guans.
41. Ortalis vetula macealli.....-...--..-..-.. Chachalaca (Pl. III, Fig. 16).......- seco cssesesuss soonee 119
It
IV TABLE OF CONTENTS.
PIGEONS OR DOVES.
Family CoLumBipa. Pigeons.
42. Columba fasciata .......-...------------- Band-tailed Pigeon (Pl. III, Fig. 17)..-....-..-....-----
43. Columba fasciata vioscw ...---........---Viosca’s Pigeon (PI. III, Fig. 18).........-....---...----
44, Columba flavirostris ...-.........--..---- Red-billed' Pigeon (BIS DV, Wig. 2)is2225- -------2---- oe
45. Columba leucocephala .._--...---..--..-- White-crowned Pigeon (Pl. IV, Fig.4)...-....-.-.------
46. Ectopistes migratorius.....-....--..----- Passenger Pigeon (Pl. IV, Wig. 6))222225--2-25-ses-5- oe
47. Zenaidura macroura -..-.-....--.-------- Mion IDOE CP, INV, IMGs, EO) coscse cconessteca cscs
AS Lenaldaizenald Yer eee secre eee eee eee PAMEMOES IDOE (Lely IIS 1G PAD) ooo 56 socces coscec sous sos5
49. Engyptila albifrons...........----..----- White-fronted Dove (Pl. II, Fig. 22)...:........-...-..-
50. Melopelialeucoptera.......-.-...--..--.- Wihiteswinced Dove) (PII Milos 23) == senses eneeeeeeee
51. Columbigallina passerina ....-...---.---- Ground Doves Sos Sue Oa cyanate ie es rete epee rere
52. Columbigallina passerina pallescens..-.-.Mexican Ground Dove (PI. II, Fig. 24) .-.....-....-.---
Dowecardatellajin Capes seers eee eee eee Ibaeeh DOYS (CEL 10, Wie 2S) coos cocsco sauces soca aoeces
54. Geotrygon martinica.....-....-...------- LG? WES QUEM DOVGosa5 ssocoocacesecsoassoubes c60e4e
5d. Geotrygon montana....-....--..--------- Ruddy Quail-Dove (Pl. II, Fig. 26).-........-...---- Boe
56. Starneenas cyanocephala........----.---- Blue-headed Quail-Dove ..--...........-....-----------
BIRDS OF PREY.
Family CATHARTID2.
American Vultures.
57. Pseudogryphus californianus........---.- California Valiture) (PVE Bio.|5)sassse sees eeeeeee eee
is}; (Ch NAP IEEE. a ccodisoneds ceantio sosouses Awad, Winllim (2A INY, Wes, TB) cccsscanees Saco onscos
59. Catharista atrata ..---.-----....--..----- BlackeValturey (BV, Ei esi7,910)) eee eese eee eceeee
Family FaLconip.2. Vultures, Falcons, Hawks, Eagles, ete.
60. Elanoides forficatus.........--....--.--.- Swallow-tailed Kite (Pl. V, Figs. 1,2)--..-.-..-.-.-.--.-
Glee lanustleu CUnuUs meee eres se eee White-tailed Kite (Pl. V, Figs. 3,4).-..-..-.2.----------
62. Ictinia mississippiensis .-...........----- Mississippi Kate (BI WV, iio 5) nes --- ea esesee easiest
63. Rostrhamus sociabilis...-....---..--.---- Everpladerkatey (eave Eos iG.) seeeeseee ae eeeeermeceee
64. Circus hudsonius -.....-.-.-.-.-.-.-.---- Marsh Hawi (BID \V,, Bigs: 8-10) 222223222 see-s nesses
Goa Alc cipitersviel oxseseeeiee= tees eee eee aes Sharp-shinned Hawk (Pl. V, Figs. 11-17)...-..-.-.------
66S Accipitercoopentiesssss=s==-se ee eee ae Cooper’s Hawk (Pl. V, Figs. 18-20) .-2.-.-....-.---.----
67. Accipiter atricapillus.....-........-.---- American Goshawk (Pl. VI, Fig. 1)-.---..--..-------2---
68. Accipiter atricapillus striatulus --...----- Wiestern! Goshawik (PI Vil, Pio. 2)952222 ee ee ee ee
69. Parabuteo unicinctus harrisi....-...----- HWannis?s)Hawile: (Pi aVil iies304)sceaeeeee tee see eee
iO buteovbuteotseee. soccer eee soem ee ITUMO MCR IWAN oo G case aocdes cote Seon gsuE bssuadsecs
(Me sButeosborealisheeee see ee eae ene eee Red-tailed Hawls (PIS Vil Bio's 35;(6));sse see eeeeeeae eee
72. Buteo borealis kriderii -.-..-...-...--:-- Kariderisicba wiley sic ake ae age eras hee ree: ee
73. Buteo borealis calurus....-.-..---...---- Western Red-tail (Pl. VI, Figs. 7,8) .-.....--.---.------
74. Buteo borealis lucasanus...--.---..------ Saintplbucashed-taileesssemere eae r ss sece eee eee seers
75. Buteo borealis harlani-..........-.....-- Marlan’s tela kot means sane ose eee ee Ee eee
(owButeolineatusee- cesses ee eee eee Red-shouldered Hawk (Pl. VII, Figs. 1-5) .....-...-----
4%. Buteo lineatus)alleni.-----.----.---.----- Florida Red-shouldered Hawk ....-.-....-.-.----------
78. Buteo lineatus elegans..-..._.........-.- Red-bellied @biawAki(PIh Val Ho. 9) eee es eee eee eee
f9s-Buteorabbreviatusheces=-cse seer et ce ee Zone-tailed Hawk (Pl. VII, Fig. 6) --...-...-.--.-------
80. Buteo albicaudatus ...--...--.---------- White-tailed Hawk (Pl. VII, Figs. 8,9)-..-.-.--...-----
Slee Buteo swalnsont 24). = ye eel a\e a Swainson’s Hawk (Pl. VIII, Figs. 1-6)..--..-..--..--.--
S2e-Buteolalissimuspreemen see ees eee Broad-winged Hawk (PI. VII, Figs. 10-13) -....-...----
$35 Buteosbrachyinusee esse see e oe ee sesee Short-tailed Hawk (Pl. VIII, Fig. 7) -.-..-.-...-..-----
84. Urubitinga anthracina..--.......--.-.-.. Mexican Black Hawk (PI. VIII, Figs. 8,9)-.---..---.----
85. Asturina plagiata..........--..-.-..----- Mexican Goshawk (Pl. VII, Fig. 7) --.---.--..----------
. Archibuteo lagopus
. Archibuteo lagopus sancti-johannis -. ---
> Archibuteoferrugineus)--254-- 252-6
Rough-legged Hawk
-American Rough-legged Hawk (PI. VIII, Figs, 10-12). --
Ferruginous Rough-leg (Pl. IX, Figs. 1, 2, 4)
SoeAguilaichnysaetoses nesses. eerste e ees Goldenskialrle( (RI XeeBilost310) -eeeeeee eee eee ee eere
SOS ehrasae tusthanpyal apne sess eerie Harpy, Miaalie ss gist ors tee on Ss ee esas Ses ee estos Reed
Sieh stusial bicillae sees else ete eae Gray Sea iag lems ney eet aes arate eee ree ee ener
92. Halizétus leucocephalus .---....-...--.-- Baldi hace Cea exXeo bn oa) pee eeee eae eer eee eee
O3eahlal conslandusmees ee eeece see eee eee Wihite) Gyrtalconseesa een eee eee ee eee ae eeeeee
BLE AMMO TU GOOING Coe sobs hece asd. Cosa ouEeee Gray, iGyrfalconteseeen pease eee eaee Beeece eee
95. Falco rusticolus pyrfaleo -.-..-.--.------ Gya falcon (RIS Dxsnioss688.59) seen cere eee aeereee
Page.
122
127
128
131
132
139
143
144
145
148
150
152
153
‘154
156
157
161
165
168
173
177
180
183
186
192
196
199
202
205
206
212
213
217
217
219
224
226
228
234
236
241
246
248
251
255
256
259
263
270
272
274
281
283
283
TABLE OF CONTENTS. | Vv
Page.
96. Falco rusticolus obsoletus....-...---.---- IBllevelke Enantnlloorm (Ie, dG INS, 1). osoo soca coco code seoaccue 286
‘CO (Aelia Conmexd Camus peer ee access Pew IMO (IE, 65 WIGS 7) ooh e soS5 Soes coos occ oeuc 288
98. Falco peregrinus anatum .-.-.. .--------- IDwelke TRlemAke (GPM, 6, IG, BEM) coscce sosscacsus coco suaces 292
99: Falco peregrinus pealei =... ---.-----.---- IPERS WANGOM sssectos bpo5 Son0 cdc oneo cess ceccdoess anes 297
TOON Hal colcolamibaniussesssee =e eee eee eee Pie coms Elanwiks (eylepXey Bi OSs 4518) eee eee eee =e 298
101. Faleo columbarius suckleyi-----.-------- BlackiMerliny aoc se08 sce se = cee sa setem see cee somesc. 302
102 5eHal coppichards oni a= ses =e ae a TRi@lnanGls@nHs MIGMbIN 6 osossncces cosebo cose escens cose sass 303
103. Faleoregulus.-...--.------ So eau cee e eee Merlin eneese saeco eee tae seep ine Seema eete ses 304
104. Paleo fusco-ccerulescens..----.----------- Aplomado Falcon (PI. X, Figs.9, 10) ..------------------- 306
105. Falco tinnunculus - .-.--- Pa ee eee IGEN ce sage cannes coceas pede ddaescocoesusaccacacesesce 308
10G3e hal coyspanvyeriusse=-eeeseeeeeere eres American Sparrow Hawk (PI. X, Figs. 11-16) --..-.---.-- 309
1Ofeehial codominicensissssesee eee esas eee Cia Syopmeroyy Isle = scosenncoocc oceans Saacs]e Sasa Sone 314
108. Polyborus cheriway -..--.----------------- Audubon’s Caracara (PI. XI, Figs. 1-4) .........-.-.---.- 315
HOO Polyborus Mtosuseeeeee esse eee eseseeeee Guadalupe) Camacanaly ese = see = ieee ee 318
110. Pandion haliaétus carolinensis .......-.-.American Osprey (PI. X, Fig. 17; Pl. XI, Figs. 5-9).....--- 320
Family Striegipa. Barn Owls.
iil, SHRI PORMHINCCNEY — cocoon sccacoascascsssese American Barn Owl (Pl. XII, Fig. 1) .---.-..------..---. 325
Family BuBontipa. Horned Owls, etc.
1s ASO WHIROMMMNUS scasesessossescososessee American Long-eared Owl (PI. XII, Fig.2) ....--...----- 328
1H}, ASO ACC on. 55555 sseoceeseonsee saee Snorerecamed! Onl (eb YOU IMS) sscoscooosssssouoKee séce 332
TL, Shyam THE) NOUS case case cseescsasesss BeynReel Oral (JPL WUE WeSC) oe coo coe pecesesaacss oco5 ce56 335
1S, Gyan melynilosmmn Hes 3 5 soos cone loa, Ieee! Oyyal soe cosSocesg s55eas oaecos secSacaseese 333
1G, Shyaminim, @CCIGlonMMW. -cocseasaass s5e5 5058 Spool OXndl seas caccsccs tn0ces coacss soon 520055 sae Se88 bye
IDET SOOM DIO CUNORED = ogseso sesaaaesaa ces nan Chem Cory Ovrl GAL XGUG Wi B)) S.s5c656 Sosasnceosessaos 345
118. Scotiaptex cinerea lapponica -....-------- Ibe ON. odosess cscs coceds c6bo55 DoncosoSSseSses cso5es 346
119. Nyctala tengmalmi richardsoni -.---.---- Richardsonss Only Cel pxel ls hhio 6) pease eee eee eee 347
12D, INN OUR, MONGNOA, 5 scases oaodeeassses sshse5 CPinveardnar Orval (el; .aUt, IMs 7) Son seodcee cscs seesesonse 350
1G, MGS ASOO OS AHO. cosencosaasee seacsesacesS Soreaoln Ox! (el, .GUl, Iie pcos coonse capeceosonecasesa5 354
122. Megascops asio floridanus ..--..---------- Talonnclay Srorea@ln Oral oso ooscsas Keo cotsospccoas cecsbes6 358
123. Megascops asio mccallii .--.......-------- Itexenn Seneeeln OX, sons soscccddos8e cose cseosocdscosecus 360
124. Megascops asio hendirei......---.-------- Chilton Semeseln Owwits cosd esos cconas odasoods dbsc00 550¢ 361
125. Megascops asio kennicottil .---.--...----- Kennicoutisiscreech: Owl eee eee se eee ieee eee nee 363
126. Megascops asio maxwellim .....-----.---- Rocky Mountain Screech Owl (PI. XII, Fig. 10).-....---- 363
127. Megascops asio trichopsis -....-.--------- Mexican Screech Owl (Pl. XII, Fig.11).-.-......-...---- 368
128. Megascops asio aikeni..----.------...2-.. Ault Sera n Oil ¢secqskosocce ones ec cosa deceusseeces 370
129. Megascops asio macfarlanei-.--...----.---- MacFarlane’s Screech Owl (PI. XII, Fig. 9)-.-..--..-.-- Zen” Srl
130. Megascops asio saturatus.--.--..--------- Ruvet Sound Sereech! O wilt rer cet a) ee 373
131. Megascops flammeolus -.--.-...---------- Flammulated Screech Owl (PI. XII, Fig. 15)..----...---- 374
132. Megascops flammeolus idahoensis. .... .... Dwarf Sereech Owl --..---.---------------------------- 376
188}, TBHOO WnINTEMAMNS <6 6 2558 cane sesSecocosee Great) Homed! Owl! (PIXE Bie w2)\ 25225. ses aes. aa 376
134. Bubo virginianus subareticus --..-------- Westen Ilomne@l Owl. coos coco sone peooeaco seca cosesoceass 383
IGG, LB) Wane AUS CNKOAMOUS soo 6 seo ence ene uRRING leloanedl OW aloe osc ao ceecce cess s4sesa se5ac5 S555 50n6 386
136. Bubo virginianus saturatus -.------------ IDwalsy le@ane@l Owl ssoccocosocesces cosa ses cogs ceescees 387
IGT, INVOTER MVC c ctoe code coos soos seme asecosMOuny Olt CEG OU Ines, I) oeScco caes co seesccourc cass 389
1B}R, Save) Wl sccagecase ssacce dosece bec ese Iplohivlie Ovals soaaeasa sooo desoosasss sane eiswneeleeejem sisters cleta 392
139. Surnia ulula caparoch --..--..-...-...--: ‘American Hawk Owl (Pl. XII, Fig. 18) -......----------- 393
140. Speotyto cunicularia hypogvea -.--------- Burrowing Owl (PIXIT, Pig. 14) ----- ee 395
141. Speotyto cunicularia floridana ...-.-.---- Florida Burrowing Owl (PI. XII, Fig. 16) ........--....- 400
142. Glaucidium gnoma. .......-..-.----.----- IPs, ON ooo son cod as ono cou sae coec eonocosSuocescds 403
143. Glaucidium gnoma californicum. .-------- Calitormiapesys miyg Ojwilleeeemereeeeanesrieeerecer eee ee 407
144. Glaucidium gnoma hoskinsii ------------- Blo tabs IAAT? OW, co50 cane Sooo 5ece cosbececeocs doaces 408
145. Glaucidium phalenoides -.-...-.----.---- Ferruginous Pygmy Owl (PI. XII, Fig.17) --..---------- 409
146. Micropallas whitneyi ..--..--.----------- MEO al (als SOUS TPiey, 13) soge coos acon cnemss Aeon ecebaeds 411
CIN IETS @ IDC TE WON.
This work on the Life Histories of North American Birds is based largely
upon the collections in the U 8. National Museum. It was the wish of the late
Prof. Spencer F. Baird that a comprehensive work on this subject should be
published, bringing together the great advances in our knowledge made during
the past few years. This wish was also shared by Prof. Langley and Dr. Goode,
and with their concurrence the present work has been written.
Since the publication by the Smithsonian Institution in 1857 of an initial
volume on North American Oslogy, by the late Dr. T. M. Brewer—which work
was not finished owing to lack of material—and of Baird, Brewer and Ridgway’s
“History of North American Birds” in 1874, no systematic and comprehensive
work on the odlogy of this country has appeared. Large collections have been
brought together during the last three decades, and great advances, only rendered
possible by the more general interest that the subject has attracted, have been
made.
It is not intended that this work shall consist merely of descriptions ot nests
and eggs. Special attention has been given to the life history, the migratory
and breeding ranges, and food of each species. In this connection the latest
information, including the field notes made by myself and others and hitherto
unpublished, has been freely used.
Although involving considerably more labor and a certain amount of repeti-
tion, I treat each species and subspecies separately, and endeavor to define the
“breeding range” of each as accurately as possible. This method is to some
extent open to criticism, and especially so where a species is divided into several
geographical races between the boundaries of whose ranges a neutral zone exists
in which they intergrade. On account of the limited knowledge we possess of
many of our birds, I am well aware that the information given under this head is
more or less imperfect, but this is irremediable in many instances at present.
The present volume relates only to land birds. The classification given in
the Code and Check List of the American Ornithologists’ Union has been followed,
and the synonymy and nomenclature used in this list have also been adopted,
with the emendations that have been made up to date.
VIL
VIII INTRODUCTION.
When it is not expressly stated to the contrary, the type specimens figured
have been presented to the U.S. National Museum collection by the gentlemen
whose names are given. Without mentioning each by name, my thanks are due
to the many friends whose assistance has so greatly aided me in the preparation
of this volume and added to its completeness, and whose codperation will, I hope,
be continued until the work is finished.
The original water-color drawings from which the plates have been repro-
duced were made by Mr. John L. Ridgway, of Washington, D. C., to whose
skill and painstaking care the excellence of the illustrations is largely due.
The chromolithographic reproductions of these plates were made by the Ket-
terlinus Printing Company, of Philadelphia, Pa., and it gives me pleasure to
say that they are as faithful copies of the original drawings as it is possible
to make.
THe AuTHor.
LIFE HISTORIES OF NORTH AMERICAN BIRDS.
By CHARLES BENDIRE, Captain U.S. Army (retired).
GALLINACKOUS BIRDS. —
Family TETRAONID. Grousn, Parrrincss, ETC.
1. Colinus virginianus (Linyzvs).
BOB WHITE.
Tetrao virginianus LINN AUS, Systema Naturee, ed. 10, 1, 1758, 161.
Colinus virginianus STEJNEGER, Auk, 11, January 1885, 45.
(B 471, C 389, R 480, C 571, U 289.)
GEOGRAPHICAL RANGE: Hastern United States and southern Ontario, Canada;
west to eastern Minnesota, Nebraska, Kansas, Indian Territory, and eastern Texas ;
south to Georgia, Alabama, and other Gulf States.
This’ species, one of the most widely distributed of our game birds, is
better known throughout the Northern and Middle States as the Quail, and
under the name of Partridge or Virginia Partridge in the South. It is found
everywhere, more or less abundantly in suitable localities within the United
States, east of the Missouri and Mississippi Rivers, excepting in Florida, where
it is replaced by the Florida Bob White, and in the northern portions of the
New England States. In these, north of Massachusetts, it is rare, but occurs
occasionally in the southern portions of Vermont and New Hampshire, and less
frequently in Maine. In northern New York it is very rare. West of the Mis-
sissippi it occurs in Louisiana, eastern Texas, the eastern part of the Indian
Territory, Arkansas, Missouri, Kansas, and the greater portion of Nebraska,
where it has advanced beyond the central part of the State.
Mr. W. M. Wolfe, of Kearney, Nebraska, informs me that the Bob Whites
are becoming more and more abundant, and are now common as far west as
Ogallala. Dr. T. E. Wilcox, surgeon U. 8. Army, writes me to the same effect
from Fort Niobrara, Nebraska, saying it is steadily advancing westward and
is now to be found 30 miles west of this post. It is also gradually advancing
northward.
Mr. W. W. Cooke states that in Minnesota it has followed up the settle-
ments, and in the eastern part of the State has reached the line of the Northern
26957—Bull. 1——1 1
2 LIFE HISTORIES OF NORTH AMERICAN BIRDS.
Pacific Railroad, about latitude 46°; also that in South Dakota it is abundant,
and has advanced to latitude 44° 30/7
North of the United States Mr. T. McIlwraith gives it as a permanent resi-
dent in southern Ontario, Canada.’
At the present time the Bob Whites are most abundant in the Central and
some of the Southern States. They have also been successfully introduced in
various localities in the West. According to information received from Mr.
Denis Gale, of Gold Hill, Boulder County, Colorado, it is now well established
along the South Platte River and its tributaries in the vicinity of Denver, Colo-
rado, and is known to occur also in portions of northern New Mexico.
As early as 1872 Prof. J. A. Allen stated in the American Naturalist that
these birds had recently been introduced in the Great Salt Lake Valley, Utah,
and that in the summer of 1871 young had been raised and gave promise of
multiplying rapidly and becoming thoroughly naturalized. At the present time
they are common in various parts of Utah, and Professor Allen’s predictions
have been fully verified. According to Mr. H. K. Taylor the Bob Whites are
quite abundant about Gilroy, California.’
In the vicinity of Boisé City, Idaho, a few pairs were turned out some
time in 1875. In the fall of 1878 I found them abundant between that point
and Snake River, all along the Boisé River, and in 1882 they had spread to
the west side of Snake River, fully 50 miles from where they were first liber-
ated. Dr. T. E. Wilcox, U. 8. Army, who first noticed them there, says, “I
never saw coveys so large and numerous as I found them about Boisé. Cover
and food, as well as climate, are all favorable.”*
They are also quite abundant now in portions of the Willamette Valley,
Oregon, as well as on several islands in Puget Sound, Washington. In fact,
they are well adapted for introduction into any country where the climate is
not too severe in winter, and where suitable food and shelter are to be found,
they seem to thrive and adapt themselves to the surroundings.
Excepting, perhaps, in its extreme northern range, the Bob Whites are
residents, and breed wherever found. They are partial to more or less open
country. Fields and pastures, interspersed with small bodies of woodland,
country roads, bordered by brush and briar patches, as well as the edges of
meadow and lowlands, are its favorite abiding places. In southern Louisiana
they are very partial to the borders of hammock land and open pine woods.
They are never found in large packs; each covey generally keeps to itself,
and rarely moves far from the place where it was raised. The mating season
commences in April, when the coveys or such portions of them remaining
begin to break up, each pair selecting a suitable nesting site. Nidification
begins usually about May 1; in the Southern States somewhat earlier, and in
1 Report on Bird Migration of the Mississippi Valley, Bull. u, U.S. Dept. of Agric., Div. Economie
Ornith., p. 102.
2 Birds of Ontario, pp. 140, 141.
3 Ornithologist and Odlogist, Vol, Iv, 1889, p. 93.
4 Auk, Vol. u, 1885, p. 315,
THE BOB WHITE. 3
the more northern portions of their breeding range it is often delayed until
June. The nest is always placed on the ground and is generally a very simple
affair. A saucer-shaped cavity is excavated (occasionally quite a deep one)
alongside a patch of overhanging weeds or a tall bunch of grass. Again, it
may be placed under a small bush or in a briar patch, by the side of a fence, in
cultivated fields or pastures, and even in gardens close to houses; and in the
South, “Cotton rows” are favorite nesting sites. This cavity is lmed with dry
grasses or bits of grain stubble. The nest is generally well hidden, arched over
naturally by overhanging vines, bushes or weeds, and usually open on one side.
Occasionally a nest is arched over artificially, but in most cases, where there is
no natural cover existing, no dome is attempted.
Judge John N. Clark, of Saybrook, Connecticut, writes me of having seen
a male Bob White at work constructing a domed nest. He says: “In May,
1887, while on a hill back of my house one morning, I heard a Quail whistle,
but the note, which was continually repeated, had a smothered sound. Track-
ing the notes to their source, I found a male Bob White building a nest in a
little patch of dewberry vines. He was busy carrying in the grasses and weav-
ing a roof, as well as whistling at his work. The dome was very expertly
fashioned, and fitted into its place without changing the surroundings, so that I
believe I would never have observed it, had he kept quiet.” Another nest,
found by Mr. G. E. Beyer, of New Orleans, Louisiana, was entirely constructed
of pine needles, arched over, and the entrance probably afoot or more from the
nest proper.
In North Carolina, according to Mr. R. B. McLaughlin, the Bob Whites
preferred to nest in sedge-fields, so very common in that region, and nearly all
the nests observed by him were placed near paths and roads. The favorite
materials used for lining the nest were the long dry blades from the sedge
tussocks.
Capt. B. F. Goss, of Pewaukee, Wisconsin, has found these birds nesting
in the open prairies, miles from timber and brush of any kind; but such
instances are rather unusual.
Among uncommon nesting sites the following deserves mention: Mr. Lynds
Jones, of Grinnell, Iowa, found a nest of a pair of Bob Whites under the edge
of a bridge, which contained nine eggs. It had been placed under a plank in
the road, and during a heavy rainstorm was flooded and deserted.
Prof. Robert Ridgway, of the Smithsonian Institution, found a Bob White's
nest containing fresh eggs, on October 16, and Mr. H. C. Munger, of Jefferson
City, Missouri, publishes in Forest and Stream, of March 6, 1879, a still more
remarkable find. He writes as follows:
‘(JEFFERSON Ciry, Missouri, February 6, 1879.
“Hiditor Forest aND STREAM:
“T noticed an article in a local paper here yesterday, stating that a gentle-
man while out hunting in Calaway County, a county adjoining this, in the
month of January, found a Quail’s nest with fifteen or sixteen eggs, and the
4 LIFE HISTORIES OF NORTH AMERICAN BIRDS.
mother bird sitting on the nest. After she flew off the nest, he examined it
carefully, the bunch of grass covering it being filled with ice and frozen solid,
leaving just space enough under it for the bird and her nest and a place of exit.
A few days after finding it he and other parties went to examine it again. This
time they found the bird still sitting on the nest but frozen to death. A portion
of the eggs had been hatched, but the young were also frozen. Was this not a
a very singular occurrence? I should have been somewhat skeptical in regard
to it if I had not met with very nearly a similar case while out quail shooting
four years ago this winter, in company with a venerable sportsman, Mr. Pratt,
of this place. Our dogs made a point. We flushed a single bird after consid-
erable kicking around in the grass and snow, and found she had been sitting on
her nest containing three apparently fresh eggs; but alas, she never returned to
finish her maternal duties. It was too late when we found the cause of her
reluctant flight.”
The Bob White is unquestionably the most prolific of all our game birds,
the number of eggs laid varying from twelve to eighteen to a clutch. Fifteen
may be considered a fair average. As many as thirty-seven eggs have been
found in one nest, unquestionably the product of two, or even three, hens. In
such large sets the eggs are always placed in layers or tiers, the small or pointed
ends usually toward the center. An egg is laid daily till the set is com-
pleted.
The late Dr. T. M. Brewer states that he “never found less than twenty-
four eggs in a nest, and from that to thirty-two.”! If the eggs are all laid by
a single bird, which I think is doubtful, such large sets as Dr. Brewer
mentions may possibly be accounted for in the following manner: In
Massachusetts and in other portions of its northern range the Bob Whites
probably rear but one brood, and lay a larger number of eggs to a set than
they do in the Middle and Southern States, where the fact seems to be pretty
well established that two and even three broods are sometimes raised during
a favorable season; parents with young of three different sizes having been
met with now and then, which would tend to substantiate this assertion. Incu-
bation lasts about twenty-four days, in which duty the male is said to assist,
at times at least.
Mr. Lynds Jones, who has had excellent opportunities to study the habits
of the Bob White, writes me: “The female is seldom seen during the nesting
season, while the male attracts our attention with his loud and fearless call,
usually uttered from some fencepost or other elevated position. If driven
from this, he darts into the grass or shrubbery and there repeats his call. I
never succeeded in flushing the female at such times; she is shy and coy, while
the male is bold and fearless. While I have never flushed the male from the
nest, I have frequently found him near it. If the nest is disturbed while the
set of eggs is still incomplete, the birds usually abandon it; but should incuba-
tion be somewhat advanced they will return and hatch their brood. The male
‘ History North American Birds, Vol. 101, p. 472.
THE BOB WHITE. 5
is very attentive to the setting hen, often making excursions into the grass after
food, apparently for her benefit.”
That the male Bob White takes the whole duty of incubation upon himself,
should some accident befall the female, which unfortunately happens only too
often, is conclusively proven by the following statement, from Dr. William C.
Avery, of Greensboro, Alabama, who writes me as follows: “In June, 1886,
while on a visit to Dr. J. M. Pickett, of Cedarville, Alabama, this gentleman
informed me of having seen a male Bob White incubating; he had visited the
nest at various times during the day, and on different days, and always found
the male on the nest. Wishing to be an eye witness of so interesting a phe-
nomenon, I rode several miles with the doctor to see this male Bob White on
his nest. There we found him, faithfully warming his treasures, but not into
life. The eggs were never hatched. Dr. Pickett went frequently to the place,
until long after the period of incubation had elapsed, and finding that the eggs
would not hatch, he destroyed them, to prevent the useless occupation of the
nest by the male. The female had probably been dead some hours, and the
eges were cold before the male took the nest, hence they did not hatch. How
different is he in his nature from some other gallmaceous birds, which only seek
the female when impelled by sexual desire. I know no other bird that will
take the nest and faithfully brood upon the eggs when the female has been
killed.”
These birds are very sociable in disposition, and, when not constantly dis-
turbed or shot at, become quite tame and may frequently be seen about dwell-
ing houses, barns, and in gardens, especially during the late fall, winter, and
early spring. As soon as the young are hatched they become more shy and
retiring. The young leave the nest as soon as hatched, and have been seen
running about with pieces of the shell sticking to them. They are faithfully
eared for by both parents, who make use of all sorts of artifices, such as feign-
ing lameness and fluttering along just out of reach of the intruder, to lure him
away from the young brood; the young scattering, in the mean time, and hiding
in the grass and under leaves at the danger signal of the parents, and
remaining quiet until called together again by either of them, as soon as
all danger is passed. When they are about two or three weeks old, the male
takes charge of the first brood, while the female begins to lay her second
clutch of eggs. This is usually a smaller one than the first, averaging only
about twelve eggs. The young are at first exclusively fed on insect food, and
later on small seeds, grains, and berries.
Aside from insects of various kinds, the favorite food of the Bob White
consists of buckwheat, wheat, rye, oats, the seed of the locust, wild pease, tick-
trefoil (Desmodium), smartweeds (Polygonum), sunflower, and bitterweed, the
partridge berry (Michella), wintergreen (Gaultheria), nannyberries (Viburnum),
1The fact that the male Bob White takes occasionally the entire duties of incubation on himself, should
the female be killed, appears to be not an unusual occurrence with this species, at least two similar instances
having come under the observation of other parties.
6 LIFE HISTORIES OF NORTH AMERICAN BIRDS.
wild grapes, and other small berries. In the late fall they often feed on the
seeds of the skunk cabbage, acorns of different kinds, as well as on beech-
nuts.
Mr. W. M. Wolfe, of Kearney, Nebraska, writes me: ‘Here, the male takes
the young to the wheat fields and stubble early in July; at first, they return to
the brush for the night, but as soon as harvesting fairly commences they spend
all their time in the fields, huddling together at night in the open. Here they
form a circle with their heads out and crowd close together. The male remains
outside the ring and close at hand. The female, after raising her second brood,
takes the chicks to the stubble as soon as they are able to fly. The broods
unite in September, and all care on the part of the parents ceases soon after,
though they all remain together until the following spring.”
Aside from the many enemies that the Bob White has to contend with
during the breeding season, the mowing machine is probably one of the greatest
factors of destruction, as many brooding birds and eggs are annually destroyed
through its agency.
The males commence singing about May 1; their song is the well-known
“Bob White,” or “Ah, Bob White.” One of their love notes may be translated
as ‘‘Pease most ripe,” another call as “No more wet,” or “More wet.” A shrill
‘“wee-teeh” is used as a note of warning, and one to assemble when the covey
has dispersed resembles ‘‘Quoi-hee, quoi-hee.” A subdued clucking when
undisturbed, and a rapidly repeated twitter when suddenly surprised, are fre-
quently used as well.
In the fall, in certain portions of the country, these birds, while not actually
migratory, leave the localities where they raised their broods for others, possibly’
on account of the desire for some particular kind of food. Mr. G. E. Beyer
writes me that in the vicinity of Madisonville, Louisiana, the Bob Whites leave
the hammock lands in the fall and retreat considerable distances into the open
pine woods, along small water courses, returning only when nesting time
approaches.
The eggs of the Bob White vary from a round ovate to subpyriform in
shape, are dull white in color, slightly glossy, and often partially stained a
buffy yellow by contact with the grass or soil on which they lie. The shell is
smooth and remarkably strong and thick for the size of the egg. Their average
size is about 30 by 24 millimetres, the largest ege in the U. S. National
Museum collection measuring 32.5 by 25, the smallest 26 by 22.5 millimetres.
The type specimen, No. 12786, Pl. 1, Fig. 1, selected from a set of ten
egos, was collected by Dr. William Wood at East Windsor Hill, Connecticut,
June 14, 1866.
THE FLORIDA BOB WHITE. 7
2. Colinus virginianus floridanus (Couss).
FLORIDA BOB WHITE.
Ortyx virginianus var. floridanus Cours, Key to North American birds, 1872, 237.
Colinus virgimanus floridanus STEJNEGER, Auk, 1, January, 1885, 45.
(B—, C 389a, R 480a, C 572, U 2892.)
GEOGRAPHICAL RANGE: Florida, except the extreme southern portion.
This somewhat smaller and darker race is found only in Florida. Dr. W.
L. Ralph, who has enjoyed excellent opportunities of studying the habits of the
Florida Bob White, and is well known as a reliable and careful observer, writes
me as follows: ‘It is still common throughout the northern and central parts of
the State, and probably in the southern portions as well, but they are not nearly
so abundant as formerly, owing to the persecution they receive from northern
visitors and negroes, and to the want of efficient game laws. They are very
tame and confiding, and when not molested prefer to live near man, probably on
account of greater security from the attacks of beasts and birds of prey. They
become much attached to the localities where they breed, and seldom wander far
from these, even when much persecuted. I have known cases where they were
hunted day after day until their number was reduced to two or three birds to
each covey, yet those which were left could always be found at their old places
of resort. The localities they like best are open woods grown up with saw
palmettos or low bushes, or fields with woods near them, and they are partic-
ularly fond of slovenly cultivated grounds that have bushes and weeds growing
thickly along their borders.”
The pairing season commences early. Mr. J. F. Menge writes me: “In
Lee County, Florida, it nests sometimes as early as February 15. LIFE HISTORIES OF NORTH AMERICAN BIRDS.
and distinct types of markings. These were likewise placed in two layers.
In the hot Gila River Valley in southern Arizona, nidification commences in
some seasons by the middle of March.
Mr. John Swinburne informs me of finding a full set of eggs on March 19,
near Phoenix, in Maricopa County. In the vicinity of Tucson they lay some-
what later. The earliest date at which eggs of this species have been found
there, according to the observations of Mr. Brown, is April 4, usually about the
latter part of this month and the beginning of May, the nesting season con-
tinuing into August and sometimes even to September,
The eggs of Gambel’s Partridge are short ovate in form, and the ground
color varies from a dull white to a creamy white and pale buff color. The
eggs are spotted, clouded, and blotched, sometimes very heavily, with irregular
markings or blotches, and again with well-defined and rounded spots of dark
seal-brown and écru drab. Diffused over these blotches is found a peculiar pur-
plish or pinkish bloom, difficult to describe, resembling somewhat the rich
bloom found on blue grapes and various kinds of plums when first picked.
These markings, when touched by water or moisture of any kind, change
radically, becoming seal brown, or chestnut brown of different shades, accord-
ing to the variable amount of pigment on the shell of the egg. Carefully blown
specimens will retain this peculiar bloom for years, and some eggs collected by
me and now deposited in the U.S. National Museum, one of which is figured,
show this as plainly to-day as when they were first taken, fully eighteen years
ago. Eggs of Callipepla gambeli ave, as a rule, more heavily spotted than those
of the two California Partridges, and the color of the markings in the majority
of specimens is decidedly different. The peculiar golden russet shade so often
present in the eggs of the latter is almost entirely wanting here, and is replaced
by darker and more bluish brown tints.
The average measurement of ninety-seven specimens in the U.S. National
Museum collection is 31.5 by 24 millimetres, the largest egg of the series meas-
uring 34 by 26, the smallest 28.5 by 24 millimetres. The type specimens, No.
16480 (Pl. 1, Fig. 11), selected from a set of ten eggs, taken June 14,
1872, and No. 21116, two eggs selected from a set of nineteen (PI. 1, Figs. 13
and 14), one showing the peculiar bloom before mentioned, and the other a
decided difference in the style of markings, taken June 20, 1872, near Rillitto
Creek, Arizona (Bendire collection), were found by the writer. No. 23938 (PI.
1, Fig. 12), from a set of ten eggs, was taken by Mr. Herbert Brown at the
Laguna, near Tucson, Arizona, May 19, 1889.
THE MASSENA PARTRIDGE. 35
14. Cyrtonyx montezumz (Vicors).
MASSENA PARTRIDGE.
Ortyx montezume Vicors, Zodlogical Journal, v, 1830, 275.
Cyrtonyx montezumoe STEJINEGER, Auk, 11, January, 1885, 46.
(B 477, C 394, R 485, © 578, U 296.)
GEOGRAPHICAL RANGE: Western and central Mexico, from Mazatlan and valley
of Mexico, north to western Texas, New Mexico, and Arizona.
This handsome and peculiarly marked Partridge, better known in west-
ern Texas as the “Black” or ‘Black-bellied” Quail, and in Arizona as the
“Fool” Quail, inhabits the rough mountainous regions of the last-mentioned
Territory north to at least the vicinity of Fort Whipple, which, as far as
known at present, marks the western limit of its range, and where it was
first obtained by the well-known ornithologist, Dr. Elliott Coues. Thence it
extends eastward through New Mexico, north to about latitude 36°, where
Capt. William L. Carpenter, Ninth Infantry, U. 5. Army, observed it in the
upper Rio Grande Valley, near Taos. It is also found in suitable localities
in the intervening country, in a southeasterly direction, throughout portions
of western and southwestern Texas. Mr. Dresser’s specimen, obtained in the
Bandera Hills, about 40 miles northwest of San Antonio, marks about the
most easterly known point of its range. According to Mr. William Lloyd,
it ranges south from the Llano Estacado and mountainous regions of west-
ern Texas to the Sierra Madre Mountains in Sonora, Chihuahua, and Sinaloa,
and the mountains in Jalisco in northwestern Mexico, inhabiting regions from
an altitude of 4,000 to 9,000 feet. In the less elevated parts of its range
it is a constant resident and breeds, but at the higher altitudes it is only a
summer visitor, retiring to the lower foothills on the approach of winter.
Although sixty years have passed since the Massena Partridge was first
described by Vigors, nothing absolutely reliable was known about the nest
and eggs of this bird up to the season of 1890. Not a single positively iden-
tified egg was to be found in any of the larger and well-known odlogical
collections of the country, and up to the time of this writing no description
of them has been published. This is rather remarkable when the extensive
range which this species occupies within our borders is considered, and also
the fact that in many localities it is by no means rare. Nevertheless the
Massena Partridge, next to the Lesser Prairie Hen, Tympanuchus pallidicinctus,
is still one of the least-known game birds of the United States.
Mr. William Lloyd writes me from Marfa, Texas, that ‘the favorite
resorts of the Massena Partridge are the rocky ravines or arroyas that head
well up in the mountains. They quickly, however, adapt themselves to
changed conditions of life and are now to be seen around the ranches pick-
ing up grain and scratching in the fields. In the vicinity of Fort Davis,
36 LIFE HISTORIES OF NORTH AMERICAN BIRDS.
Texas, they have been exceptionally numerous and may frequently be seen
sitting on the stone walls surrounding grainfields in Limpia Canon. In
Mexico I have seen tliem several times living contentedly in cages. In Mes-
quite Canon they are the only Partridge found, and in June and July, 1887,
I spent some time there trying principally to locate the nest and eggs of
this species. I found a single egg in a depression at the roots of a tasaca
cactus, presumably belonging to this species. It was white, without any
markings whatever. While there I was informed by two different parties
living in the vicinity that each of them had found a nest the previous year,
1886, containing eight and ten eges respectively, which they had eaten.
They described the eggs as being white in color. Both said that the nest
was simply a slight hollow, one under a small shin-oak bush, the other along-
‘side a sotol plant. The call note of this bird is a low murmuring whine,
more like that of the rock-squirrel, S. grammurus, than a bird, and it can be
heard quite a distance. I can not imitate it in syllables. They are very
fond of acorns, mountain laurel, arbutus, cedar, and other berries, and range
in coveys from eight to twelve.”
Capt. Platt M. Thorne, Twenty-second Infantry, U. 5. Army, writes me:
“T found the Massena Partridge common at both Forts McKavett and Clark,
Texas, where they apparently liked the same kind of ground as the Texan Bob
White, yet the lines of their habitat seem mysteriously restricted for some rea-
son. Can it be that their food is peculiar? All the stomachs I have examined
(fall birds) contained little else than large quantities of white shiny bulbous
roots, rounded at both ends, and about the size of French pease. I regret
now that I never forwarded any of these roots, that it might be determined
what they were. You are aware how well these birds are adapted to seratch-
ing and I have an idea that this root food might account for their restricted
distribution. I also found them abundant on a divide near Nueces River,
but I never saw any within 20 miles of the Rio Grande.” ;
Lieut. Robert C. Van Vliet, Tenth Infantry, U. 8. Army, also met with
the Massena Partridge in western Texas and northern New Mexico (Fort
Union), usually along the sides of rocky ravines. He tells me that they
were fairly common, and that their food (at least during the fall and early
winter), consisted almost entirely of a small angular brownish-looking bulb,
with a white kernel, the root of a short grass, their crops containing scarcely
anything else excepting small particles of gravel. He often saw where they
had seratched out holes to the depth of 2 inches in search of these roots,
and such evidences were always abundant in localities frequented by these
birds. Their call note is a clear “dsiup-chiur.” He rarely saw coveys con-
sisting of more than eight birds. Polecats seem to be one of their principal
enemies.
Japt. William L. Carpenter, U. 8S. Army, states: ‘I have observed this
species in the Rio Grande Valley, near Taos, New Mexico, and more fre-
quently on the headwaters of the Black and White Rivers, where it undoubt-
THE MASSENA PARTRIDGE. 37
edly breeds, and I have often looked for their nests unsuccessfully. In the
spring and summer they are usually found in pairs; the balance of the
year they range all through the White Mountain region of Arizona above an
_altitude of 4,000 feet, in coveys, but these are never numerous, and usually
small in size. They are probably more subject to the attacks of predatory ani-
mals than any other species, owing to their confiding disposition, which has
given them the name of ‘Fool’ Quail. I once stopped my horse, when about
to step on one, and watched it for some time without creating alarm. After
admiring it for several moments, squatting close to the ground within a yard
of the horse, and watching me intently, but apparently without fear, I dis-
mounted, and almost caught it with my hat, from under which it fluttered
away. The flight, which is remarkably rapid, is accompanied by a peculiar
clucking.”
According to Mr. John Swinburne, of St. John’s, Apache County, Ari-
zona, the favorite localities frequented by this species during the breeding
season are thick live-oak scrub and patches of rank grass, at an altitude of
from 7,000 to 9,000 feet. He says: ‘“‘ Here they are summer residents only,
descending to much lower altitudes in winter. They lie very close at all
times, allowing one to almost step on them before they move. I have seen this
species on the White Mountains durmg the breeding season, and saw young
birds of the year shot there. Even the adults seem very stupid when sud-
denly flushed, and after flying a short distance, alight and attempt to hide
in most conspicuous places. I have seen men follow and kill them by throw-
ing stones.”
Mr. K. W. Nelson writes me as follows: “In September, 1882, I found this
bird rather common near Chloride, and Fairview, New Mexico. Old birds with
half-grown young were found late in the afternoon each day in the roads lead-
ing down the bottoms of open brush-bordered canons that extend down the
flanks and foothills of the Black Range in this vicinity. A small stream was
usually found in these, which disappeared in the sand a mile or two below on
reaching the open barren country.
“The Massena Partridges were commonly found dusting themselves in the
roads, and usually stood and watched our approach until we were within a few
yards, and then flew into the bordering thicket and laid very close. When a
covey was surprised among the grass they arose at our feet and scattered in
every direction, but never went very far, and while flying off they would utter
low notes of alarm, sounding like ‘chuk-chuk-chuk.’” I also found them not
uncommon in the Santa Rita Mountains of southern Arizona in July, 1884.
Here they occupied the live-oak belt below the lower limit of the pines. On
the northeastern slopes of the White Mountains, near Springerville, Arizona,
a pair has raised a brood during several successive seasons at the lower
edge of the pine forest, at an altitude of about 7,500 feet. After the young
are hatched they are often led up among the pines to an altitude of between
8,000 and 9,000 feet, where I have seen them.
38 LIFE HISTORIES OF NORTH AMERICAN BIRDS.
“The birds breeding along the northern limit of their habitat migrate
southward it, October. In southern Arizona the same result of a warmer win-
ter climate is obtained by descending the flanks of the mountains. The
summer range of this species is just above and bordering that of Gambel’s
Quail in parts of Arizona and New Mexico. The fact that Gambel’s Quail
changes its range but little in winter results in these birds beimg found very
frequently occupying the same ground at this season. I have never seen the
Massena Partridge in coveys larger than would be attributed to a pair of adults
with a small brood of young. Frequently a pair raise but three or four, and I
do not remember having ever seen more than six or seven of these birds in
a covey.”
Personally I met with this species several times in the foothills and
canons of the Santa Rita, Patagonia, and Huachuca Mountains in southern
Arizona in the early part of August, 1872, while scouting after hostile Indians,
but had no time then to study their habits nor to look for their nests. A
small covey of young, less than half grown, were seen by me on August 14
in a canon of the Patagonia Mountains, about 12 miles from Camp Crit-
tenden, and an addled ege was picked up from an abandoned nest under a
small yucca in the same vicinity by one of my packers, whose attention was
drawn to the place by seeing several broken egg shells lying about the yucca,
and dismounting to investigate he found the egg under the bush and con-
cealed by it, which he handed to me some two hours afterwards. The nest,
he said, was within 5 feet of the trail I had previously passed over. While
not absolutely certain of the identity of this egg I always felt confident that
it belonged to this species, and since I have had an opportunity of examin-
ing the eggs taken during the season of 1890 I have no further doubt of it.
The egg in question is ovate in shape, differing in this respect from all the
eges of the genus Colinus I have ever seen, which are usually rounded ovate,
or subpyriform. The egg is pure white in color, the shell is smooth and
close grained, and it measures 32 by 23 millimetres.
Mr. Otho C. Poling writes me that he found the Massena Partridge in
parts of the Whetstone, the Santa Rita, Patagonia, and Huachuca Mountains
of southern Arizona, where they were fairly common. He says: ‘During
most of the year the Massenas remain in coveys of from four to a dozen birds
in number, and even at the height of the nesting season I have several
times found coveys of half a dozen together, while I have shot pairs in
the month of February.
“On June 12, 1899, I shot a female and found a fully developed egg
in her oviduet which would have been laid soon. It measures 30.5 by 25
millimetres, and is pure white in color. In another female, shot the same
day, the ovary contained small ova about the size of No. 6 shot, which
would not have been laid for some weeks. On July 15 I found my first
productive nest. I was climbing up a steep mountain side on the northeast
of the Huachuea Mountains, some 10 miles north of the border, when at an
THE MASSENA PARTRIDGE. 39
elevation of about 8,000 feet I flushed the female almost directly under my
feet and shot it. The hillside was covered in places with patches of pines
and aspens, as well as with low bushes and grasses. The nest was directly
under a dead limb which was grown over with dead grass, and so com-
pletely hidden that until I had removed the limb and some of the grass it
was not discernible at all. The nest was sunken in the ground, and com-
posed of small grass stems, arched over, and the bird could only enter it by
a long tunnel leading to it from under the limb and the grass growing
around it. The eggs were eight im number and naturally white, but they
were badly stained by the damp ground, their color being now a brownish
white. They were almost hatched. The female must have remained on
them all the time to have caused ‘such uniform incubation and preserved
the eggs from spoiling by the excessive dampness.
“On July 27 I met with a female and brood of about a dozen young.
The entire family was in view when I at first saw them crossing an old trail.
They at once entered some dense bushes, and I failed to capture or even see
any of them again. The young were probably: about a week old. On August
31 I discovered another brood, about a dozen in number, which were but a
few days out of the nest. I secured one of the young which must have been
hatched late in the month.”
Mr. G. W. Todd writes me as follows: ‘I first met with the Massena Par-
tridge in Bandera County, Texas, in 1883, where they very scarce, and I
learned but little of its habits for a long time. They are very simple and
unsuspicious, and apparently live so much in such barren and waste places that
they do not see enough of man to make them afraid. On seeing a person they
generally squat at once, or run a little way and hide. They will hardly fly
until one is almost on them, but when they finally do fly they go much further
than either the Texan Bob White or the Scaled Partridge, and on alighting
they run rapidly for a little distance and then squat again, generally flushing
easier the second time. It is rare to see more than six together; two or three
are more often met with. In the fall of 1886 I found a covey of five on a wet
and misty day, and killed three of them with a Winchester rifle before the
remaining two flew. I never found their nest nor met with small young until
this year. I saw but a single young bird this season, and this seemed to be
entirely alone. They are not very abundant here, and are always found in the
most barren places, among rocks and wastes, where even the prickly pear is
stunted, and no bush grows over 3 feet high. When seared they utter a kind of
whistling sound, a curious combination between a chuckle and a whistle, and
while flying they make a noise a good deal like a Prairie Hen, though softer
and less loud, like ‘chue-chuc-chue’ rapidly repeated.
“The only nest of this species I have ever seen was situated under the
edge of a big bunch of a coarse specie of grass, known as ‘hickory grass. ‘This
erass grows out from the center and hangs over on all sides until the blades
touch the ground. It is a round, hard-stemmed. grass, and only grows on the
40 LIFE HISTORIES OF NORTH AMERICAN BIRDS.
most sterile soil. According to my observations the Massena Partridge is seldom
seen in other localities than where this grass grows. I was riding at a walk up
the slope of a barren hill when my horse almost stepped on a nest, touching
just the rim of it. The bird gave a startled flutter, alighting again within 3
feet of the nest and not over 6 feet from me; thence she walked away with
her crest slightly erected, uttering a low chuckling whistle until lost to view
behind a Spanish bayonet plant (yucca), about 30 feet off. I was riding a
rather unruly horse, and had to return about 30 yards to tie him to a yucca,
before I could examine the nest. This was placed in a slight depression, pos-
sibly dug out by some animal, the top of the nest being on a level with the
earth around it. It was well lined with fine stalks of wire-grass almost exclu-
sively, the cavity being about 5 inches in diameter and 2 inches deep. At the
back, next to the grass, it was slightly arched over, and the overhanging blades
of grass hid it entirely from sight. The nest was more carefully made than the
average Bob White’s nest, and very nicely concealed.”
The eggs, ten in number, were fresh when found, pure white in color,
rather glossy, and the majority-of them are more elongated than those of the
Bob White. A few of these eggs resemble those of the latter somewhat in
shape, but the greater number are distinctly ovate and much more glossy.
Some are slightly granulated, and corrugations converge from near the mid-
dle to the small end.
This set of eggs of the Massena Partridge is now in Mr. Thomas H. Jack-
son’s collection, at West Chester, Pennsylvania, who has kindly allowed me to
examine them and figure one. They were taken by Mr. G. W. Todd, near the
head of Turkey Creek, in Kinney County, Texas, June 22, 1890, and are, as
far as I am aware, the first fully identified eggs of this species that have been
found.
Mr. Todd has kindly sent me a couple of skins and stomachs of these
birds. The latter, according to the report of Dr. C. Hart Merriam, in
charge of the Division of Ornithology, U. 8. Department of Agriculture, con-
tained principally cactus seeds (Opuntia), a few bits of cactus prickles, a lot
of finely ground vegetable matter with a trace of insects, and a large amount
of coarse sand, mainly iron ore.
The average measurement of the eight eggs found by Mr. Poling is 32 by
24 millimetres. The largest egg of Mr. Jackson’s set measures 33 by 24.5 milli-
metres. This is figured on Pl. 1, Fig. 15, the smallest measuring 30 by 23.5
millimetres; they average 31.5 by 24 millimetres.
SS
See ee
THE DUSKY GROUSE. 41
15. Dendragapus obscurus (Say).
DUSKY GROUSE.
Tetrao obscurus Say, Long’s Expedition, 1, 1823, 14.
Dendragapus obscurus ELuioT, Proceedings Academy Natural Sciences, Philadelphia,
1864, 23.
(B 459, C 381, R 471, C 557, U 297.)
GEOGRAPHICAL RANGE: Southern Rocky Mountains, from central Arizona and
New Mexico, north to southeastern Idaho and central Wyoming, east to southwestern
South Dakota, west to northeastern Nevada.
With our present limited knowledge it is rather a difficult matter to define
accurately the range of the Dusky Grouse from that of the two subspecies, the
“Sooty” and “ Richardson’s” Grouse; this can only be done approximately as
yet. The three forms are well known and rank as the finest of game birds, and
next to the Sage Fowl are the largest Grouse found within the United States.
Beginning with the northern range of the Dusky Grouse as well as I can
define it, this includes a small portion of southeastern Idaho, where it inter-
grades with D. obscurus fuliginosus, thence eastward through Wyoming and
western South Dakota (Black Hills), south and west through northeastern
Nevada (East Humboldt Mountains), Utah, central and western Colorado, as
well as northern and central Arizona and nearly the whole of New Mexico,
excepting the extreme southern portion south of the Rio Mimbres, which marks
the most southern limit of its range.
It is more or less a common: resident in suitable localities, 7. ¢., the outer
borders of the timbered mountain regions of the States and Territories men-
tioned, and breeds wherever found. It is best known as the Blue Grouse, and
is also called Pine Grouse and Pine Hen.
Mr. Denis Gale, of Boulder County, Colorado, a careful and reliable
observer, writes me as follows: ‘“ Here in Colorado the Dusky Grouse ranges
from an altitude of about 7,000 feet to timber line. Having once selected a
place to raise a brood they do not stray far from the neighborhood. Water at
no great distance is always kept in view. The lower gulches and side hills are
mostly chosen for their summer homes. During the mating season if you are
anywhere near the haunts of a pair you will surely hear the male and most
likely see him. He may interview you on foot, strutting along before you, in
short hurried tacks alternating from right to left, with widespread tail tipped
forward, head drawn in and back and wings dragging along the ground, much
in the style of a turkey gobbler. At other times you may hear his mimic
thunder overhead again and again in his flight from tree to tree. As you
walk along he leads, and this reconnoitering on his part, if you are not familiar
with it, may cause you to suppose that the trees are alive with these Grouse.
He then takes his stand upon a rock, stump, or log, and in the manner already
described distends the lower part of his neck, opens his frill of white, edged
with the darker feather tips, showing in its center a pink narrow line describing
42 LIFE HISTORIES OF NORTH AMERICAN BIRDS.
somewhat the segment of a circle, then with very little apparent motion he per-
forms his growling or groaning, I don’t know which to call it, having the
strange peculiarity of seeming quite distant when quite near, and near when
distant; in fact, appearing to come from every direction but the true one. The
first time I heard the sound I concluded it was the distant laboring of one of
our small mountain sawmills wrestling in agony with some cross-grained saw-
log. It appeared to me like it.
“As near as I can judge by meeting with the young broods, these birds
nest at the lowest points about May 15, at the highest about the beginning of
June. The number of chicks seen by me ina brood ranged from three to
eight. The young in the downy stage are beautiful, delicate little objects.
Upon one occasion I met with a covey which had just been hatched; they were
quite nimbie, and with the exception of one which I caught they hid themselves
with great address. Until I released the little prisoner the female showed great
distress, clucking in the most beseeching manner, accompanied with suitable
gestures, similar to but more tender and graceful than those of our domestic
hen. She stood within 6 or 7 feet of me pleading her cause and easily won it.
In her beautiful summer dress of brown, handsomely plumed as she was, she
looked very interesting. ~
“Tn a single instance only, with a brood about ten days old, have I noted
the presence of both parents. Perched upon a fallen tree the male seemed to
be on the lookout, while the female and young were feeding close by.
This seeming indifference of the male while the brood is very young, allow-
ing his mate to protect them, if he really is always near at hand, looks very
strange, and yet it may be the case, since he is generally with the covey when
the young are well grown. Directly the young are able to travel, the hen
Grouse leads them to some desirable opening skirting the timber, or gulch
where bearberries, wild raspberries, gooseberries, and currants, as well as grass-
hoppers, worms, and grubs are abundant, managing them just as the domestic
hen does her brood. The young grow rapidly, and when about two weeks old
‘an do a little with their wings; then instead of hiding on the ground they flush
and endeavor to conceal themselves in the standing timber. Until almost fully
erown they are very foolish; flushed, they will tree at once, in the silly belief
that they are out of danger, and will quietly suffer themselves to be pelted with
clubs and stones till they are struck down one after another. With a shot-
gun, of course the whole covey is bagged without much trouble, and as they
to)
are, in my opinion, the most delicious of all Grouse for the table, they are
gathered up unsparingly.”
Mr. John Swinburne informs me that in southeastern Arizona the Dusky
Grouse frequents thick spruce and fir timber, and is generally found at
an altitude of about 9,000 feet. He says: “If found on the ground they
almost invariably fly into the nearest tree and sit there, moving their heads
from side to side, gazing at the intruder first with one eye then with the
other. I have shot at them repeatedly with the rifle and pistol before they
THE DUSKY GROUSE. 43
flew from the branch on which they had settled. Broods of young, on being
disturbed, scatter and hide, the old bird flying into a neighboring tree.
These broods usually number from eight to ten.”
A nest found near Fort Garland, Colorado, is described by Mr. H. W.
Henshaw as follows: ‘A nest found June 16 contained seven eges on the
point of hatching. The nesting site was a peculiar one, being in an open
glade, where the grass had been recently burned off. The nest proper was 2
slight collection of dried grass placed in a depression between two tussocks,
there apparently having been no attempt made at concealment.”
The Dusky Grouse raises but a single brood a season, and, as a rule, the
nest is well concealed. A slight depression is scratched out by the bird,
alongside an old log, under a small thick bush or a tall bunch of grass;
this is slightly lined with pine needles, bits of dry grass, or whatever suitable
material is most convenient to the site selected. The number of eggs to a
set varies from seven to ten, rarely more, although they have generally been
eredited with larger numbers, up to fifteen. Such large sets are very excep-
tional, and eight or nine are the numbers most often found. An ege
is deposited daily, and incubation does not commence till the set is com-
pleted. Nidification begins usually about the middle of May, and_ varies
somewhat, both according to season and altitude. Incubation lasts, as nearly
as I can determine, from eighteen to twenty-four days. The eges resemble
in shape, size, and markings those of the Sooty Grouse; and as the U.S.
National Museum collection contains a much better series of this race, show-
ing considerable variation both in the ground color and the markings, and
as the same differences would unquestionably be found in an equal number
of the eges of the Dusky Grouse, I have had only a series of the former figured.
The average size of the few specimens in the U.S. National Museum col-
lection is 50.5 by 35 millimetres.
16. Dendragapus obscurus fuliginosus Ripaway.
SOOTY GROUSE.
Canace obscura var. fuliginosa RipGway, Bulletin Essex Institute, v, December,
1873, 199.
Dendragapus obscurus fuliginosus RipGway, Proceedings U. 8. National Museum,
VIII, 1885, 355.
(B—, C 381b, R471a, C 559, U 29%.)
GEOGRAPHICAL RANGE: Northwest Coast Mountains, from California north to
Alaska (Sitka), east to western Nevada, western Idaho, and middle British Columbia.
The Sooty Grouse, as fine a game bird as the preceding, is an inhabitant of
1e mountains of the Northwest. It has been taken as far north as Portage
tl t f the Nortl te elt hase tak f tl Portag
Bay, Alaska, near latitude 60°, and probably reaches farther in this direction
1 Explorations and Surveys west of 100th meridian, Wheeler, 1873, p. 92.
44 LIFE HISTORIES OF NORTH AMERICAN BIRDS.
wherever good-sized timber is found. South it ranges through British Colum-
bia, Washington, Oregon, and the greater portion of California, to about
latitude 35° (vicinity of Fort Tejon in the southern Sierra Nevada). Last it is
found to the western slopes of the Bitter Root Mountains in Idaho, intergrad-
ing in the northern and central portions of this State with Dendragapus obscurus
richardsoni. It also occurs in western Nevada, and is fairly abundant in suit-
able localities throughout its range, at altitudes varying from 2,500 to 9,000
feet. It is a constant resident and breeds wherever found. All the Sooty
Grouse from Alaska, and I presume from the Northwest coast generally, are
much darker, almost a sooty black, than specimens from eastern Washington
and Oregon, which resemble the Dusky Grouse much more in their general
coloration than the northern bird.
Personally I have met with the Sooty Grouse in various sections of the
Pacific coast, such as Mount Kearsarge in Inyo County, near-the headwaters of
the King and Kern Rivers, California, and in numerous localities in Oregon,
Washington, and Idaho.
The following account of this species is taken from an article of mine pub-
lished in the Auk (Vol. v1), January, 1889:
“T first met with the Sooty Grouse on Craig’s Mountain, near Fort Lapwai,
Idaho, on the Nez Pereé Indian Reservation, and was told by both trappers and
Indians that these birds did not remain there during the winter, in which belief.
I consequently shared at that time. I was also told that when a covey had
been located in a tree, by being careful always to shoot the bird sitting lowest,
the whole lot might be successfully secured. This may be so, but somehow it
always failed with me; usually after the second shot, often even after the first,
and certainly at the third, the remaining birds took wing, and generally flew
quite a distance before alighting again, nearly always placing a deep canon
between themselves and me.
“At Fort Lapwai, in the early fall of 1870 and of 1871, on two or
three occasions I found a few of these birds feeding with large packs
of the Sharp-tailed Grouse. This must, however, be considered an un-
usual behavior, as I never noticed it anywhere else subsequently, although
both species were equally abundant in other localities where I met them fre-
quently in after years. The favorite locations to look for the Sooty Grouse
during the spring and summer are the sunny, upper parts of the foothills,
bordering on the heavier timbered portions of the mountains, among the scat-
tered pines and the various berry-bearing bushes found in such situations, and
along the sides of canons. According to my observations these birds are
scarcely ever found any distance within the really heavy timber. In the
middle of the day they can usually be looked for with success amongst the
deciduous trees and shrubbery found along the mountain streams in cations,
especially if there is an occasional pine or fir tree mixed amongst the former.
The cocks separate from the hens after incubation has commenced, I believe,
and keep in little companies, of from four to six, by themselves, joining the
THE SOOTY GROUSE. 45
young broods again in the early fall. At any rate, I have more than once
come upon several cocks in June and July without seeing a single hen
amongst them. High rocky points near the edges of the main timber, amongst
janiper and mountain mahogany thickets, are their favorite abiding places at
that time of the year. The young chicks are kept by the hen for the first
week or two in close proximity to the place where they were hatched, and not
until they have attained two weeks’ growth will they be found -along the
willows and thickets bordering the mountain streams. Their food consists at
first principally of grasshoppers, insects, and tender plant tops, and later in the
season of various species of berries found then in abundance everywhere, as
well as the seeds of a species of wild sunflower, of which they seem to be very
fond. It is astonishing how soon the young chicks learn to fly, and well, too,
and how quickly they can hide and scatter at the first alarm note of the mother
bird, which invariably tries by various devices to draw the attention of the
intruder to herself and away from her young. A comparatively small leaf, a
bunch of grass, anything in fact will answer their purpose; you will scarcely
be able to notice them before they are all securely hidden, and unless you
should have a well-trained dog to assist you, the chances are that you will
fail to find a single one, even when the immediate surroundings are com-
paratively open. After the young broods are about half grown, they spend the
greater portion of the day, and I believe the night as well, among the shrub-
bery in the creek bottoms, feeding along the side hills in the early hours of the
morning and evening. During the heat of the day they keep close to the
water, in shady trees and the heavy undergrowth. They walk to their feeding
grounds, but in going to water they usually fly down from the side hills. °
“The love note of the cock has a very peculiar sound, hard to describe.
It can be heard at almost any hour of the day in the spring, often in the
beginning of March, when there is still plenty of snow to be found, and it
is kept up till well into the month of May. It is known as hooting or boom-
ing. The cocks when engaged in this amusement may be found perched on
horizontal limbs of large pine or fir trees, with their air sacks inflated to the
utmost, wings drooping, and the tail expanded. They then present a very
ludicrous appearance, especially about the head. When at rest these air
sacks, of a-pale orange yellow color in the spring, are only noticeable by
separating the feathers on the neck and upper parts of the breast, but when
inflated they are the size of a medium orange and somewhat resemble one
eut in halves. This call is repeated several times in rapid succession,
decreasing gradually in volume, but can at any time be heard at quite a
distance. It appears to be produced by the sudden forcing of a portion of
the air in the sack through the throat, and is quite misleading as to the exact
locality whence uttered, the birds being expert ventriloquists.
“T have frequently tried in vain to locate one while so engaged, where
there were but few trees in the vicinity; and although I searched each one
through carefully, and with a powerful field glass to assist me, I had to give
46 LIFE HISTORIES OF NORTH AMERICAN BIRDS.
it up, completely baffled. It is beyond my power to describe this love call
accurately. Some naturalists state that it resembles the sound made by
blowing into the bunghole of an empty barrel; others find a resemblance to
the cooing of a pigeon, and some to the noise made by whirring a rattan
cane rapidly through the air. The latter sound comes nearer to it in my
opinion than anything else. The closest approach to it I can give in letters
is a deep guttural ‘muhum,’ the first letter scarcely sounded.
“The accounts of the nesting habits of the Sooty Grouse are somewhat
vague, the number of eggs to a set being variously given as from eight-to
fifteen. I have personally examined quite a number of the nests of this
Grouse between May 6, 1871, and June 25, 1883. The largest number of
egos found by me in a set was ten in two instances; three sets contained
nine each, seven sets contained eight each, and five sets seven eggs or less.
The last were probably incomplete, although some of these sets were ad-
vanced in incubation. I think that eight eggs is the ordinary number laid
by these birds.
“Koos may be looked for from April 15 to the latter part of May,
according to altitude. The earliest date on which I observed eggs of this
Grouse was April 18, 1877, when a set was found by Lieut. G. R. Bacon,
First Cavalry, containing seven fresh specimens. The nest was placed on
the ground among the roots of a willow bush growing under a solitary pine
tree in a small ravine 5 miles northwest of Camp Harney, Oregon. The nest
was composed entirely of dry pine needles picked up in the vicinity.
“A nest found by me April 22, 1877, about 4 miles west of Camp
Harney, was placed under the roots of a fallen juniper tree, in a grove of
the same species, growing on an elevated plateau close to the pine belt. This
nest was well hidden, a mere depression in the ground, and composed of dry
grasses, a few feathers from the bird’s breast, and dry pine needles. The
nine eggs were about half way imbedded in this mass, and nearly fresh.
“As a rule, most of the nests found by me were placed in similar situa-
tions, under old logs or the roots of fallen trees, and generally fairly well
hidden from view, and amongst the more open pine timber along the out-
skirts of the forest proper. Occasionally, however, a nest may be found
some little distance from timber, and in the lower parts of mountain valleys.
I found such a nest on April 26, 1878, among some bunches of tall rye-grass,
in a comparatively open place, and within a yard of Cow Creek, a small
mountain stream about 4 miles east of Camp Harney. There was no timber
of any size, only small willow bushes, within 2 miles of this nest, which was
placed under one of these rye-grass bunches, and the bird sat so close that
I actually stepped partly on her and broke two of the eggs in doing so.
This nest contained eight slightly incubated eggs. It was composed of dead
grass and a few feathers.
“The most exposed nest, without any attempt at concealment whatever,
that came under my observation, I found on June 8, 1876, on the northern
ea Se oo ae
pnt Rar
—
» THE SOOTY GROUSE. 47
slope and near the summit of the Canon City Mountain, in Grant County,
Oregon, at an altitude of about 6,800 feet. I was returning from escort
duty to Carion City, and sent the party with me around by the stage road
which wound in zigzag turns up the steep mountain, while with one of my
men I took a much shorter, but far steeper, Indian trail which intersected
the wagon road again on the summit.
‘Near this intersecting point the trail passed through a beautiful oval-
shaped mountain meadow of about an acre in extent, near the summit of
which stood a solitary young fir tree. No other trees were growing nearer
than 30 yards from this one. The meadow itself was covered with a lux-
uriant growth of short, crisp mountain grass and Alpine flowers, altogether
as lovely a spot to take a rest as could well be found. Arriving at this
point, and knowing that the party would not be along for more than half
an hour at least, I dismounted and unsaddled my horse to let him have a
roll and a good chance at the sweet mountain grass, of which oppor-
tunities he was not slow to take advantage. Throwing the saddle in
the shade made by the little fir I laid down to take a rest myself. I had
a fine setter dog with me who had been ranging along both sides of the
trail and who came up wagging his tail just as I had settled myself com-
fortably. Rock, my setter, had approached perhaps within 2 feet of me
at a pretty brisk lope, when all of a sudden he came to an abrupt halt,
fairly freezing and stiffening in his tracks, and made a dead point alongside
of me. I could not understand at first what this meant; even my horse
thought it worth the while to stop eating, and with his ears pointed forward
was looking in the same direction. Rock, was fairly trembling with excite-
ment, but kept to his point. Jumping up quickly I looked to the right and
the rear, thinking that perhaps a rattlesnake might be coiled up in the
grass, and saw at once the cause of my dog’s strange behavior. It was only
a poor Sooty Grouse sitting within 3 feet of me on her nest, containing two
chicks and seven eggs on the point of hatching. It was as touching a sight
as I had ever seen; the poor bird, although scared nearly to death, with
every feather pressed close to her body, and fairly within reach of the dog,
still persisted in trying to hide her treasures; and her tender brown eyes
looked entreatingly on us rude intruders, and if eyes can speak hers cer-
tainly pleaded most eloquently for mercy. She let me almost touch her
before she fluttered off her nest, feigning lameness, and disappeared in the
undergrowth. Counting the eggs and examining one of the chicks, which
apparently had only left the shell a few minutes before, I at once vacated
the vicinity and took up a position some 50 yards in an opposite direction
from that the bird had taken, to watch further proceedings. The grass was
so short that it did not hide the bird, which, after waiting, perhaps ten min-
utes, came slowly creeping and crouching toward the nest and covered the
eggs again. I did not disturb her further, and hope that although her selec-
tion of a nesting site so thoroughly exposed was not judicious, she may
48 LIFE HISTORIES OF NORTH AMERICAN BIRDS.
have succeeded in rearing her brood in safety. None of the eggs in the
nest touched each other; they were all about half covered or imbedded
in the material out of which the nest was made—dry grass, pine and fir
needles, and a few of the bird’s feathers, presumably plucked out by herself.”
A very good description of the booming or hooting of the Sooty Grouse
is published in Forest and Stream, May 23, 1889, by a correspondent signing
himself “Stanstead.” The article was sent from Vancouver Island, British
‘olumbia, May 4, an extract from which reads as follows: “While driving near
the city with the veteran shot, R. Maynard, we saw a pair of Blue Grouse
quite near the trail, and the cock bird gave us a most entertaining exhibition
of the charms that he displays in wooing his mate. Like a turkey cock he
strutted about with his wings trailing on the ground, his tail feathers erect
and spread out fanlike to their fullest extent, his neck distended, and on each
side of his neck the feathers were turned out so as to resemble a pair of round
white rosettes, nearly 3 inches in diameter, with an oblong red spot in their
center where the skin of the neck was exposed. His head seemed to be
crowned with a fiery red comb. Excepting the rosettes, he was in appearance
a miniature turkey-gobbler. Every few seconds he would strut up to his
demure but sleek-looking mate, puff out his neck, and with a jerky movement
of his head, utter his boom or hoot, ‘boom, boom, boom. As he grew more and
more demonstrative in his actions, his modest mate flew up to an overhanging
limb to escape his familiarities, and we drove away, leaving him still strutting
on the ground underneath the tree where his mate sat perched. The comb, I
should judge, was produced by the spots over the eyes becoming enlarged and
inflamed with passion.”
According to the observations made by Capt. T. E. Wilcox, assistant sur- -
geon U.S. Army, in the vicinity of Lake Chelan, Washington, in the latter part
of August, 1883, the Sooty Grouse will pack at times and gather in large
coveys, though not to the same extent as the Pinnated and Sharp-tailed Grouse.
He also writes me: “I once caught an old Grouse with a fishhook. I had my
rod on my shoulder and suddenly came upon a covey, about the size of
Quails, and caught one with my hands. This made the old bird frantic; she
attacked me, and alighting on my rod, the hook pierced her foot. ‘Twas pulling
her in, when my leader broke and she flew off. Of course I released her
chicken. I killed a male in the Boisé Mountains, December 2, 1879, which
weighed 3 pounds 10 ounces, but some killed by me in the Cascade Mountains
seemed to be much larger. While on Lake Chelan in 1883, hunting white
goats, I flushed a covey of Grouse, and here heard for the first time the call note
of the female for her young. It was low, but distinct, something like that by
the Bob White, just before it flushes. At this time, last of August, the birds
were well grown. I have always found these birds near water. In 1881, while
going to Indian Valley, Idaho, I rode past some, one being near enough to
touch with a switch I had in my hand, yet they all walked out of the trail as
quietly as domestic fowls would have done, and then resumed their dusting.”
THE SOOTY GROUSE. 49
But one brood is raised in a season. Incubation lasts, according to differ-
ent observers, from eighteen to twenty-four days. Females seem to predominate
in numbers, but I do not think that these birds are polygamous. Their ordi-
nary note resembles the cackling of the domestic hen very much. The Indian
name of the Sooty Grouse on the Northwest coast is ‘‘ Tyhee-Cullaw-Cullaw,”
“Chief Bird.”
According to my own observations, made in various portions of Oregon,
Washington, and Idaho, the usual number of eggs laid by the Sooty Grouse is
about eight, and occasionally as many as ten are found in a set. Prof. O. B.
Johnson, of the University of Washington, Seattle, Washington, informs me,
however, that he found as many as sixteen eggs in a nest, and gives the average
number from eight to twelve. The former, I think, will as a rule, come
nearer to the correct average.
The eges are ovate in shape, and the ground color varies from pale cream
to a cream-buff, the latter being more common. Ina single set before me it
is a pale cinnamon. The eges are more or less spotted over their entire surface
with fine dots of chocolate or chestnut brown; these spots vary considerably
in size in different sets, ranging from the size of No. 3 shot to that of mustard
seed. These markings are generally well rounded, regular in shape, and pretty
evenly distributed over the entire ege. They never run into irregular and
heavy blotches, such as are frequently found in the eggs of the Canada Grouse,
Dendragapus canadensis, which approach the pattern usually found among those
of the Willow Ptarmigan, Lagopus lagopus, much nearer than the former. All
of these markings can be readily washed off, as well as the overlying ground
color, while they are still quite fresh, leaving the shell a delicate pale creamy
white. In fact this coloring matter rubs off very readily, and occasionally
fresh eges will not stand even a good wiping. An egg is usually deposited
daily and incubation does not begin until the set is completed, the male taking
apparently no part in this duty nor in the care of the young after they are
hatched.
The average size of ninety-six specimens in the U.S. National Museum
collection is 48.5 by 34.5 millimetres. The largest egg of the series measures
52 by 37, the smallest 45 by 32.5 millimetres.
The type specimens show the different variations found in the eggs of the
Sooty Grouse, and are all from the Bendire collection, having been col-
lected by the author. No. 21073 (PI. 1, Fig. 16), is from a set of ten, taken
near Camp Harney, Oregon, May 10, 1876; No. 21074 (PI. 1, Fig. 17), from
a set of eight collected on the Canyon City Mountain, Grant County, Ore-
gon, June 8, 1876; No. 21079 (PI. 1, Fig. 18), from a set of nine, taken May
10, 1877, near Camp Harney, Oregon, and No. 21080 (PL. 1, Fig. 19), from a
set of seven eges found near Fort Klamath, Oregon, and taken May 22, 1883.
The majority of the eggs of this subspecies resemble the specimen figured on
PL. 1, Fig. 18, more than the other types.
26957—Bull. 1——4
50 LIFE HISTORIES OF NORTH AMERICAN BIRDS.
17. Dendragapus obscurus richardsonii (Sasrne).
RICHARDSON’S GROUSE.
Tetrao richardsonti, “SABINE MS.,” DouGuas, Linnean Transactions, XVI, iii, 1829,
141.
Dendragapus obscurus richardsonit RipGway, Proceedings U. 8. National Museum,
VIII, 1885, 355.
(B —, C 38la, R 471b, C 558, U 2970.)
GEOGRAPHICAL RANGE: Northern Rocky Mountains, mainly on eastern slopes,
from southern Montana, northeastern Idaho, and eastern British Columbia, north into
British America (Liard River).
This distinctly marked race of Dusky Grouse imhabits the timbered
regions along the eastern slopes of the Rocky Mountains, from southern
Montana and contiguous parts of Idaho northward, through the interior of
British North America, to about latitude 61°. It was in the latter vicinity
(Liard River) that Mr. J. Lockhart, of the Hudson Bay Company, obtained
the most northern specimens of this bird that are in the U. 8S. National
Museum collection.
Like the preceding, it is a resident, and breeds wherever found, and its
habits are similar to those of the Dusky Grouse. In northern Wyoming and
the eastern parts of central Idaho this Grouse intergrades with its more south-
ern relative, and in northeastern Idaho and western Montana it does the same
with the Sooty Grouse. It is a common enough bird in suitable localities
throughout the mountainous portions of Montana, especially in the Big Horn
Mountains and along the headwaters of the Musselshell River, where I per-
sonally met with them. Still, in some sections of this State, apparently quite
suited to these birds, where an abundance of good-sized pine timber is found,
they are entirely wanting. I have been unable to account for this fact, or
to ascertain a good reason therefor, as plenty of good water and an abun-
dance of food is to be found thereabouts.
Mr. Robert 8. Williams, of Great Falls, Montana, writes me: “On June 21,
1885, while crossing over the almost bare summit of a small knoll in the foot-
hills of the Belt Mountains, I suddenly almost ran into a brood of young Rich-
ardson’s Grouse, which had evidently been hatched out but a very short time.
The young, about ten in number, were closely huddled together, the old bird
standing by their side, with head up, and eyes fairly blazing at the unexpected
intruder. I was almost within reach of them, but neither old or young made a
single motion or uttered a sound, while I stood watching them for several
moments; and I left them in the same position.
“T have often met with coveys a little older, but have never seen the
parent bird attempt to draw off the attention of any one by the feints so cun-
ningly carried out by the Ruffed Grouse. These birds feed largely on grass-
hoppers when such are abundant.”
Se ee
RICHARDSON’S GROUSE. 51
Like the Sooty Grouse, after the young are fairly grown, these birds spend
the greater portion of the late summer and autumn along the creek bottoms,
fringed with dense thickets of cottonwoods, and many berry-bearing. bushes,
and at such times they become exceedingly fat. I have seen them fully 10
miles away from any pine timber at this time of the year, and occasionally
quite a distance from timber of any kind. Their nesting habits, as far
as known, as well as the eggs, are similar in every respect to those of the
Dusky and Sooty Grouse. The latter seem to average a trifle smaller, the
mean being 47 by 34 millimetres. The largest specimen measures 51 by
34.5, the smallest 43 by 33.5 millimetres. This apparent difference in size
can scarcely be taken into account, and is due, no doubt, to the small num-
ber (eleven specimens) in the U. 5. National Museum collection; the majority
of these, all from one set, laid probably by a young bird, are very small,
and they reduce the general average considerably. As these eggs are indis-
tinguishable from those of the preceding race none are figured.
18. Dendragapus canadensis (Linyzvs).
CANADA GROUSE.
Tetrao canadensis LINN &US, Systema Naturee, ed. 10, I, 1758, 159.
Dendragapus canadensis RipGway, Proceedings U.S. National Museum, VIII, 1885, 355.
(B 460, C 380, R 472, C555, U 298).
GEOGRAPHICAL RANGE: Northern North America east of the Rocky Mountains,
from the northern portions of the New England States, New York, Michigan, and Min-
nesota northwestward to Alaska (reaching coast at Kadiak, St. Michael, etc.).
The breeding range of the Canada Grouse, or the Spruce Partridge,
extends from northwestern Alaska (Kowak or Putnam River) southeastward
throughout British North America from ocean to ocean, south to central Minne-
sota, northern Wisconsin, northern Michigan, northern New York, and northern
New England. It must, however, be considered as rather a rare summer resi-
dent within the United States, excepting northern Minnesota, where it is said to
be common in the immense forests of the northeastern parts of the State, and
extending westward to the edge of the prairie at White Earth.’
The Canada Grouse is usually resident, and breeds wherever found. At
times, however, it is partially migratory during the winter; probably due more
to lack of suitable food than to cold, as it has been found in considerable num-
bers, during the severest kind of weather, as far north as latitude 67°. Its
favorite abiding places are the dense thickets of tamarack, Larix americana,
also called hackmatac, and in groves and swamps of evergreen woods.
Mr. L. M. Turner, in his manuscript on the Birds of Labrador and Ungava,
makes the following statement? “The mating season occurs in this locality
(Fort Chimo) in the latter part of April or early May. It is said that the
' According to Dr. C. Hart Merriain, this Grouse feeds largely on the berries of Arctostaphylos uva-ursi
and Ribes cereum, besides green leaves of the willow aud other bushes.
2 Bulletin u, Dept. of Agriculture, Bird Migration Mississippi Valley, 1888, p. 103,
52 LIFE HISTORIES OF NORTH AMERICAN BIRDS.
weather at this season may influence the pairing of thig species for two or
three weeks later. The males exercise much intrigue to secure the object of
their choice for the season, although I have reason to suspect that some of
these birds retain their mate for more than one season, as I have frequently
found a pair together in the depth of winter, these two being the only ones of
the kind to be found in the vicinity.
“Taying begins about the 5th of June, and incubation about the 12th.
The young are hatched in about seventeen days. Young birds about five days
old were obtained June 28, and others, able to fly, were secured July 10.
Through the exertions of Miss Lizzie Ford I was enabled to secure two sets
of eges of this species. The nest consisted merely of a few stalks and blades
of grass, loosely arranged among the moss of a higher spot, under the drooping
limbs of a spruce, situated in a swamp. A few feathers from the parent bird
were also in the nest. The number of eggs in this nest was seven, all quite
fresh. A second set, also of seven eggs, was found in a similar situation, and
near the location of the nest previously described.
“The food of the Spruce Partridge consists of the tender terminal buds of
the spruce, and in winter this seems to be their only food. In a great num-
ber of birds examined during that season this was the only substance found
in their gizzards, mixed at times with an astonishing quantity of gravel. I
was surprised to find these stones of such uniformity of size and material.
Crystallized quartz fragments, in certain instances, formed alone the triturating
substance, and rarely were there fragments of granite or other stones. In fact
many of the birds had not a discolored stone in their gizzard. In the spring
and summer months these birds consume quantities of berries of Hmpetrum and
Vaccinium.” 4
Mr. J. W. Banks, of St. John’s, New Brunswick, writes me: “Mr. James
Lingley, an old backwoodsman and close observer, found two nests of the Can-
ada Grouse, one on May 4, which was partially hidden under the trunk of a
fallen tree. He killed the female with a stick of wood, not knowing she had
a nest close by. On picking her up he found an egg she had just laid, and
looking around found the nest with seven eggs. May 20 he found a second
nest. This was placed between two small fir bushes that grew quite close
together, and contained thirteen eggs. In both cases the nests were com-
posed of dried leaves. He also describes the drumming of the male during
the mating season, as follows: ‘After strutting back and forth for a few min-
utes, the male flew straight up, as high as the surrounding trees, about: 14
feet; here he remained stationary an instant, and while on suspended wing
did the drumming with the wings, resembling distant thunder, meanwhile
dropping down slowly to the spot from where he started, to repeat the same
thing over and over again. The only foodehe noticed them take was the
needles of the fir.’”
On the other hand, Mr. J. H. Yarnall, who has examined the crops of a
great number of these birds “never found anything in them but the needles of
the hackmatack,”
THE CANADA GROUSE. 53
Mr. Manly Hardy, of Brewer, Maine, a reliable and careful observer,
writes me as follows: “I have been over every part of this State where this
_ bird is likely to be abundant, east from Penobscot, from the sea to the North
Corner Monument, but I have always found the Canada Grouse very scarce
everywhere. Five once and six at another time are the largest number I
ever. saw together. I have many times traveled a month, and sometimes
two months constantly in the woods, where they ought to be, without seeing
over one or two.
‘‘A Micmae Indian, whom I consider reliable, tells me of having seen a
pack of many thousands somewhere east of Halifax, Nova Scotia, on which their
whole village lived for weeks, moving after them when they moved. The
males greatly preponderate over the females, at least two to one. They feed
almost entirely on the needles of spruce and fir, also hackmatack and berries
in summer. ‘They show a preference for some fir trees over others, as I have
seen them return to the same tree until it was nearly stripped. When dis-
turbed, they always take to the trees, walking about in them, from one branch
to another. My father, who had opportunities to see them drum, told me they
drummed in the air while descending from a tree. They would fly up on a
tree, then start off and drum on the way to the ground, like a Quaker grass-'
hopper. When on the ground they scratch a great deal more than other
Grouse do.”
Another description of the drumming is as follows: “The Canada Grouse
performs its ‘drumming’ upon the trunk of a standing tree of rather small size,
preferably one that is inclined from the perpendicular, and in the following
manner: Commencing near the base of the tree selected, the bird flutters
upward with somewhat slow progress, but rapidly beating wings, which pro-
duce the drumming sound. Having thus ascended 15 or 20 feet it glides
quietly on wing to the ground and repeats the manceuvre. Favorite places
are resorted to habitually, and these ‘drumming trees’ are well known to
observant woodsmen. I have seen one that was so well worn upon the bark
as to lead to the belief that it had been used for this purpose for many
years. This tree was a spruce of 6 inches diameter, with an inclination of
about 15 degrees from the perpendicular, and was known to have been used as
a ‘drumming tree’ for several seasons. The upper surface and sides of the
trunk were so worn by the feet and wings of the bird or birds using it for
drumming, that for a distance of 12 or 15 feet the bark had become quite
smooth and red as if rubbed.”
Mr. Watson L. Bishop, of Kentville, Nova Scotia, has succeeded in domes-
ticating the Canada Grouse, and he has published several very interesting
accounts of their habits as observed by him, in the “Forest and Stream,” giving
its many readers a great deal of new and valuable information about the life-
history of these birds, a portion of which I extract. He says: “As the nest-
ing season approaches I prepare suitable places for them by placing spruce
‘Birds of Maine, Everett Smith, Forest and Stream, February 8, 1883, p. 26.
e
54 LIFE HISTORIES OF NORTH AMERICAN BIRDS.
boughs in such a way as to form cozy little shelters, where the birds will be
pretty well concealed from view. I then gather up some old dry leaves and
grass and scatter it about on the ground near where I have prepared a place for
the nest. The bird pays no attention to this until she wants to lay. She will
then select one of these places, and, after scratching a deep cup-shaped place in
the ground, deposit in it her eggs. When the hen is on the nest she is contin-
ually making a kind of cooing sound, which’ I have never heard them make
on any other occasion. If there should be sufficient material within easy reach
of the nest the bird will sometimes cover the eggs up, but not in all cases.
‘No nesting material is taken to the nest until after three or four eggs are
laid. After this number has been deposited, the hen after laying an egg, and
while leaving the nest, will pick up straws, grass, and leaves, or whatever suit-
able material is at hand, and throw it backward over her back as she leaves the
nest, and by the time the set is complete, quite a quantity of this litter is collected
about the nest. She will then sit in her nest and reach out and gather in the
nesting material and place it about her, and when completed the nest is very
deep and nicely bordered with grass and leaves.
“So strong is the habit, or instinct, of throwing the nesting materials over
the back, that they will frequently throw it away from the nest, instead of
toward it, as the hen will sometimes follow a trail of material that will turn her
‘right about’ so that her head is toward the nest, but all the time she will con-
tinue to throw what she picks up over her back. This, of course, is throwing
the material away from the nest. Discovering her mistake, she will then ‘right
about face’ and pick up the same material that an instant before was being
thrown away, and throw it over her back again toward the nest.
“The way they will steal eggs from one another would do credit to a Lon-
don pickpocket. Two hens had their nests near together, perhaps 2 feet apart,
and as each hen laid every other day, one nest would be vacant while the other
would be occupied. The hen that laid last would not go away until she
had stolen the nest ege from the other nest and placed it in her own. i once
saw a hen attempt to steal an egg from another nest that was 20 feet away.
She worked faithfully at it for half an hour or more, but did not succeed in
moving the coveted egg more than about 8 feet, it being up hill. The egg so
frequently got away from her and rolled back a foot or more each time, that
she at last got disgusted, and gave up the task. I had no fear of getting the
sets mixed, as each was so different in color and shape from the other.
“On going to the pen one evening I found one of the hens on the nest, and
I knew she was beginning to sit, as all the others had gone to roost. Slipping
my hand under her I found three eggs, the nest ege, the one just laid, and the
one stolen from the other nest. I picked two of them up and held them before
her, when she all at once placed her bill over the one held between my thumb
and forefinger, and tried to pull it out of my hand; I did not let her have it,
however, and she immediately stepped upon the side of the nest and placing
her bill over the remaining egg, drew it up out of the nest and pushed it back
o
THE CANADA GROUSE. 55
out of sight, as much as to say ‘you have two, and that is all you can have’ I
must confess that it was with great reluctance I took these eggs from her, she
pleaded so hard for them.
“Anyone who has seen eggs of the Canada Grouse only after they have
lain in the nest until the whole set is complete, can have no idea of the beauty
of a fresh-laid egg. I have now in my collection about eighty of these eges,
all perfect specimens.
“The male bird begins to strut in March. I remember very well the first
time I saw one strutting. I had obtained the bird in the fall, and he used to sit
about, bunched up almost in a round ball, as the female did, until one morning,
when I went to feed them I found him strutting. His attitude was so different
that one would scarcely have known it was the same bird. I went in the
house and told my wife to come and see him, remarking that whether the
female laid any eggs or not, I was well paid by this sight for all my trouble.
I was so interested in seeing him strut that I had the photographer bring his
‘amera in and take some stereoscopic views of him while strutting.
“T will deseribe as nearly as I can his conduct and attitude while strutting:
The tail stands almost erect, the wings are slightly raised from the body and a
little drooped, the head is still well up, and the feathers of the breast and throat
are raised and standing out in regular rows, which press the feathers of the
nape and hind neck well back, forming a smooth kind of cape on the back
of the neck. This smooth cape contrasts beautifully with the ruffled black
and white feathers of the throat and fore breast. The red comb over each
eye is enlarged until the two nearly meet over the top of the head. This
comb the bird is able to enlarge or reduce at will, and while he is strutting
the expanded tail is moved from side to side. The two center feathers do
not move, but each side expands and contracts alternately with each step
as the bird walks. This movement of the tail produces a peculiar rustling,
like that of silk. This attitude gives. him a very dignified and even con-
ceited air. He tries to attract attention in every possible way, by flying from
the ground up on a perch, and back to the ground, making all the noise he can
in doing so. Then he will thump some hard substance with his bill. I have
had him fly up on my shoulder and thump my collar. At this season he is
very bold, and will scarcely keep enough out of the way to avoid being stepped
on. He will sometimes sit with his breast almost touching the earth, his
feathers erect as in strutting, and making peculiar nodding and circular motions
of the head from side to side; he will remain in this position two or three min-
utes at atime. He is a most beautiful bird, and shows by his actions that he
is perfectly aware of the fact.
“As the spring and summer advance the food given these Canada Grouse
must be changed with the season, and it is only with a perfect knowledge of
their wants and with constant care, that they can be safely carried through the
heat of the summer and the moulting season. -In the nesting season the
females are very quarrelsome, and at this time more than two or three cannot
56 LIFE HISTORIES OF NORTH AMERICAN BIRDS.
be kept in the same pen, but in July they may be all turned together again,
and they will agree very well until the following March.”?
The Canada Grouse breeds early. Eggs now in the U. 8. National
Museum collection have been taken by Mr. B. R. Ross, of the Hudson Bay
Company, near Fort Simpson, British North America, north of latitude 62°, as
early as May 23. Buta single brood is raised ina season. The number of
eges to a set varies from nine to thirteen, rarely more, usually about eleven,
and in exceptional cases as many as sixteen. An ege is deposited every other
day, and incubation does not begin till the clutch is completed. In form the
eges vary from ovate to elongate ovate. Their ground color, which is only
superficial, is also very variable, ranging from a pale creamy buff to a decided
reddish buff or pale cinnamon, and again to brownish buff with intermediate
shades. The eggs are irregularly spotted and blotched with reddish brown or
burnt umber. The spots vary considerably in size and shape, but are never
close enough together to hide the ground color. An occasional specimen is but
very slightly marked, and now and then one may be entirely unspotted.
The average measurement of fifty specimens in the U. 8. National Museum
collection is 43.5 by 31.5 millimetres, the largest egg measuring 48 by 33,
the smallest 41 by 31 millimetres.
Of the type specimens selected to show the variations in color and mark-
ings, No. 22367 (Pl. 1, Fig. 20), was taken near Whale River, Ungava Bay,
June 3, 1883; Nos. 22398 and 22399 (Pl. 1, Figs. 21 and 22), near Fort
Chimo, Northeast Territory, Dominion of Canada, both on July 1, 1884.
These eggs were all collected by Mr. L. M. Turner while on duty as United
States signal observer at Fort Chimo, and No. 24024 (Pl. 1, Fig. 23), is from a
set of thirteen, laid in confinement in the spring of 1890, and purchased from Mr.
W. L. Bishop, Kentville, Nova Scotia. The set from which this specimen is
selected is much richer colored than any of the eggs taken from these birds in
a wild state, and may be partly caused by the food they received in captivity.
19. Dendragapus franklinii (Doucuas).
FRANKLIN'S GROUSE.
Tetrao franklinii DouaeLas, Transactions Linnean Society, XVI, ii, 1829, 139.
Dendragapus franklinit Ripaway, Proceedings U.S. National Museum, VII, 1885, 355.
(B 461, C 380a, R 472a, C 556, U 299.)
GEOGRAPHICAL RANGE: Northern Rocky Mountains (chiefly north of the United
States) and west to the Coast ranges.
The breeding range of Franklin’s Grouse, which still remains one of the
rarest birds in the ornithological collections of the United States, extends from
about latitude 60°, in southern Alaska, but along the coast only, south through
British Columbia and Washington, to northern Oregon, where it reaches its
' Forest and Stream, May 29, 1890, p. 367.
Bt Spits
Pt Poe
FRANKLIN’S GROUSE. 57
southern limit at about latitude 45°. Eastward it ranges through the higher
mountains of northern and central Idaho, and northwestern Montana to the
Belt range. In Alaska, north of latitude 60°, it is replaced by Dendragapus
canadensis, which likewise reaches the coast here, and the present species occu-
pies but a comparatively small portion of this extensive territory. Within the
United States, Franklin’s Grouse is perhaps most common in suitable localities
throughout northern and central Idaho, in the almost impenetrable and densely
timbered mountain ranges bordering the headwaters of the north and south
forks of the Clearwater, and the tributaries of the Salmon River. Throughout
this region this species is known as the ‘Fool Hen;” an eminently proper and
well-deserved name, it being entirely unsuspicious, allowing itself frequently
to be knocked off the trees with sticks or stones, and it can often be caught
by hand.
My friend, Dr. T. E. Wilcox, U.S. Army, says: “The cocks of this species
are fearless and pugnacious, refusing to flee from man, and even attacking an
intruder. I have been able to get within 3 or 4 feet before they would hop
to another branch or twig. I always found them near running water or along
the borders of high marshes. Its flight is not noisy like that of other Grouse
or Partridges.”
-Mr. George Bird Grinnell says: ‘“‘When alarmed or uneasy, Franklin’s
Grouse, as well as the Dusky Grouse, has the habit of erecting the feathers of
the neck just below the head. This is done very commonly, and gives the bird
a very odd appearance. It is analogous to the habit of the Ruffed Grouse,
which, under the influence of certain emotions, erects the black ruff, and as
does the Pinnated Grouse its little falciform feathers on the neck.”
While stationed at Fort Lapwai, Idaho, from 1868 to 1871, I saw these
birds on several occasions, and learned a good,deal about them from pack-
ers and trappers. In those days the town of Lewiston, situated at the junc-
tion of the Snake and Clearwater Rivers, 11 miles west of Fort Lapwai,
was the main supply depot for the various mining camps in northern Idaho,
and every pound of freight for the mines had to be carried there on pack
mules. The main trails to Oro Fino, Florence, and Warrens, the three
principal mining centers at that time, passed right through the garrison, and
it was no unusual sight for a half dozen pack trains, numbering a couple of
hundred mules, to pass by there in a day. The route followed by these
trains passed, for a portion of the way at least, over as rough and rugged a
country as can be found anywhere, up one mountain and down another;
some places being so rocky and steep that it seemed impossible for the
heavily laden mules to keep their footing, and the underbrush so dense and
thick on either side that it was almost impenetrable. The few narrow moun-
tain valleys met with were no better. The melting of the deep snows ren-
dered them nearly bottomless during the greater portion of the summer,
making them a shaking, trembling quagmire in which the poor mules floun-
dered up to their bellies in mud and mire. If you desired to become
58 LIFE HISTORIES OF NORTA AMERICAN BIRDS.
acquainted with the habits of Franklin’s Grouse your inclination might be
gratified in such localities as here described, viz, along the edges of wet or
swampy mountain valleys, the so-called “Camas prairies,” or the borders of
the numerous little streams found in such regions among groves or thickets
of spruce and tamarack. Few naturalists have as yet been sufficiently inter-
ested to invade their favorite haunts. They are also quite abundant on the
Lolo trail over the Bitter Root Mountains, from the Nez Pereé Indian Reser-
vation to Missoula, Montana. I have met with them here as well as in the
Salmon River Mountains, south of Mount Idaho, at an altitude of from 6,000
to 9,000 feet, during the Nez Percé campaign in the summer of 1877, but
had no time then to observe their habits closely.
In the summer of 1881 I found a single covey, numbering about ten birds,
in the low, flat and densely timbered region between the southern end of
Pend d’Oreille Lake (the old steamboat landing) and Lake Cceur d’Aléne,
Idaho, at an altitude not exceeding 3,500 feet, I should think. I bagged three
of these birds, and was quite surprised to find them in such a locality. As far
as I have been able to learn, they usually occurred only at altitudes from
5,000 to 9,000 feet, and scarcely ever left the higher mountains. They were
scratching in the dust on the trail IT was following, and simply ran into the
thick underbrush on each side, where they were quickly hidden.
Franklin’s Grouse is a constant resident wherever found, and abundant
enough in certain localities. Large numbers are yearly killed by both Indians
and packers; in fact, this Grouse seems to furnish the latter their principal
fresh-meat supply during the summer months, and they are by no means
unpalatable at this time, as they feed more or less on various berries and
grasshoppers, and not so much on the buds and leaves of the spruce and
tamarack, as at other seasons of the year.
According to the best information obtainable, but a single brood is raised
in a season, and their actions and drumming during the mating season are
similar to those of the Canada Grouse. Nidification begins during the latter
part of May or the beginning of June, depending somewhat on altitude and
the season. The nesting habits and number of eggs laid to a set appear
to be similar to those of the former species. There are no full sets of eggs
in the U.S. National Museum collection.
Among an extremely interesting collection of birds’ nests and eges, made
by Mr. R. MacFarlane, chief factor of the Hudson Bay Company, near Stewart
Lake, New Caledonia District, British Columbia, during the season of 1889,
and throwing much light on the distribution of a number of species found
in this little known and practically unexplored territory, are two incomplete
sets of eges of this bird.
Three eggs of Franklin’s Grouse and one of the Canadian Ruffed Grouse
were found in one nest by an Indian near Babine, in the latter part of May,
1889, and a second nest, also containing three eggs, was brought to Mr.
MacFarlane with the parent, by another Indian, who found it near Fort St.
FRANKLIN’S GROUSE. 59
James, on June 9 of the same year. The nest was merely a slight depres-
sion in the ground, and was lined with a few decayed leaves. Two of the
eggs contained well-formed embryos and the third was addled.
Through the kindness of Mr. W. E. Traill, in charge of one of the Hud-
son Bay Company posts in British Columbia, parts of three sets of these rare
eggs, fifteen in number, were collected during the season of 1890; taken on
May 20, 27, and 30, respectively. The nests were shallow depressions in the
moss-covered ground, lined with bits of dry grass, and were placed at the
borders of spruce thickets. The eggs were fresh when found. They resemble
those of the Canada Grouse in shape, color, and markings, but average a. trifle
smaller.
The average size of twenty-three specimens in the U. S. National Museum
collection is 42 by 31 millimetres; the largest ege measuring 45 by 32.5,
the smallest 38.5 by 30 millimetres. As they are similar to those of the pre-
ceding species, none are figured.
20. Bonasa umbellus (Linyavs).
RUFFED GROUSE.
Tetrao umbellus LINN US, Systema Naturee, ed. 12, 1, 1766, 275.
Bonasa wmbellus STEPHENS, General Zodlogy, x1, 1819, 300.
(B 465, C 385, R 473, C 565, U 300.)
3
north to Massachusetts (lowlands), Minnesota, southern Ontario, Canada; south to
northern South Carolina and northwestern Georgia (uplands), Tennessee, Arkansas, etc.
GEOGRAPHICAL RANGE: Eastern United States, west to edge of Great Plains (?);
The typical Ruffed Grouse or Partridge of the Northern States and the
Pheasant of the South, inhabits and breeds throughout the wooded sections of
the eastern United States, from Massachusetts westward, through New York,
Pennsylvania, Ohio, Michigan, Wisconsin, Minnesota, and the southeastern por-
tions of North and South Dakota, thence south through southeastern Nebraska
and Missouri, the mountainous regions of Arkansas, eastern Tennessee, western
North Carolina, northeastern Alabama, northwestern Georgia, and northern
South Carolina, as well as in the remaining States included within the bounda-
ries mentioned. ‘Throughout its southern range the Ruffed Grouse is mostly
confined to the mountain regions, and is seldom if ever found in the lowlands
during the breeding season. In the New England States north of Massachu-
setts it intergrades with B. wmbellus togata, the majority of the specimens found
throughout southern Maine, New Hampshire, Vermont, and northern New
York being scarcely referable to either form, birds found in the high lands
approaching the Canadian Ruffed Grouse, while those in the valleys, are nearer
typical Bonasa umbellus. The Ruffed Grouse found in southern Ontario, Can-
ada, are referable to this race.
60 LIFE HISTORIES OF NORTH AMERICAN BIRDS.
It is generally a resident and breeds wherever found, ranking with the
Bob White in importance as a game bird. The Ruffed Grouse is naturally
fame and unsuspicious, and let it once realize that it is protected it becomes
almost as much at home in the immediate vicinity of man as a domestic fowl,
and quickly learns to know its friends. At the fine country residence of the
Hon. Clinton L. Merriam, near Locust Grove, New York, especially during the
winter, it is not an unusual sight to see several of these handsome birds uncon-
cernedly walking about the shrubbery surrounding his home, and even coming
on the veranda of the house to feed. They, like many other animals about the
place, have learned that here at least they are among friends, and plainly show
their full confidence in them. Even during the mating season a cock Grouse
may frequently be seen in the act of drumming within 50 yards of some of the
outbuildings.
How different are the habits of these birds from those of the Ruffed
Grouse as we usually see them. From the almost constant persecution they
are subjected to throughout the year, in the more thickly settled portions of
the United States at least, they have become a most cunning and extremely
wary bird, and it takes a quick eye as well as steady nerves to arrest its swift
and powerful flight when once on the wing and bring it to bag.
Notwithstanding the army of sportsmen, who leave this bird but little rest
during the open season, and the great number annually snared, the numerous
four-footed enemies it has to contend with during the breeding season, includ-
ing cats, mink, weasels, foxes, and squirrels, as well as crows and birds of
prey—like a few of the hawks and owls, which destroy either the eggs or
young—and natural causes, such as wet and cold seasous, which are also
exceedingly destructive to the newly-hatched young, this noble game bird
seems, nevertheless, to hold its own fairly well over the greater portion of its
range, and while they may be scarce one season, in the next they may be
comparatively common.
The Ruffed Grouse is partial to an undulating and hilly country, one well
wooded and covered with considerable undergrowth, interspersed here and
there with cultivated fields and meadow lands. In the southern portions of its
range, this bird is confined to the more mountainous and Alpine regions, being
seldom found far away from such places, excepting in the late fall. As win-
ter approaches, the coveys leave their feeding grounds in the mountains and
repair to more congenial haunts along the edges of the neighboring valleys. .
The mating season occasionally commences early in February, but usually
about the beginning of March, when the familiar drumming of the male may
be frequently heard, though the bird is not often seen. This drumming of the
Ruffed Grouse has been often described, and many different theories have been
advanced as to how the sound is produced. It is generally conceded now by
most naturalists, including such well-known ornithologists as Brewster, Mer-
riam, and Henshaw, that the sound is produced by the outspread wings of the
bird being brought suddenly downward against the air, without striking any-
thing.
THE RUFFED GROUSE. 61
Mr. Manly Hardy, of Brewer, Maine, well known as a reliable student of
nature and a careful observer, describes the drumming as follows:
“The cock Grouse usually selects a mossy log, near some open hedge,
clearing, or woods road, and partly screened by bushes, where he can see and
not be seen. When about to drum he erects his neck feathers, spreads his tail,
and, with drooping wings, steps with a jerking motion along the log for some
distance each way from his drumming place, walking back and forth several
times and looking sharply in every direction; then, standing crosswise, he
stretches himself to his fullest height and delivers the blows with his wings
fully upon his sides, his wings being several inches clear from the log. After
drumming he settles quietly down into a sitting posture, and remains. silently
listening for five or ten minutes, when, if no cause for alarm is discovered, he
repeats the process.”
The drumming place is resorted to by the male from year to year. It
may be a log, a rock, an old stump, or when such are not available, a small
hillock is made to answer the purpose equally as well. While this drumming
can not be considered a love note, as it may be heard almost every month in
the year, and sometimes in the night as well as in the daytime, yet it must
undoubtedly have some attraction for the female, and I think is performed
as a sign of bodily vigor and to notify her of his whereabouts. Occasion-
ally it causes a jealous rival to put in an appearance also, when a rough-
and-tumble fight ensues. The- female is seldom seen near the drumming
place.
No game bird is more courageous than the Ruffed Grouse in the defense
of its young; and the various tactics made use of, such as feigning injury,
and fluttering along the ground just out of reach, are well known and often
successful.
By many persons the Ruffed Grouse is considered polygamous, and
while I can not actually disprove this assertion I doubt it very much.
The nest, like that of all the Grouse family, consists of a slight hollow
scratched out at the base of a standing tree, a rock, under or alongside an
old log, the fallen top of a tree, a brush pile, an old fence corner, or in the
tangled undergrowth and thickets near a stream. Usually it is well and
securely hidden, and placed in a secluded locality. Now and then, how-
ever, a nest will be found in quite an exposed and unlikely place, without
any pretense at concealment. I have a photograph of such a one before
me now, showing the bird on the nest. It was placed amongst a lot of fallen
leaves, alongside the trunk of a tree, apparently a spruce, and close to a
fence, in quite an open place.
Mr. Lynds Jones, of Grinnell, Iowa, found a nest of the Ruffed Grouse
in a hollow stump, and Mr. C. M. Jones, of Eastford, Connecticut, found one
in a swamp, on a little cradle knoll, surrounded by water. Mr. William N.
Colton, of Biddeford, Maine, records a nest found between the stems of three
young birches, fully 8 inches from the ground.
62 LIFE HISTORIES OF NORTH AMERICAN BIRDS.
The nest itself is a very slight affair, and does not take long to con-
struct. It is lined with a little dry grass, dead leaves, pine needles, or what-
ever is most conveniently found in the immediate vicinity of the nesting site.
Occasionally the Ruffed Grouse breeds very early, even in the more
northern portions of its range. I have reliable records of full sets of eges
found in central New York as early as April 1 and April 2. Usually, how-
ever, the beginning of May is the breeding season of this species. If the
bird is disturbed on the nest and the eges are handled before the complete
number has been laid and incubation fairly begun, it will frequently abandon
its nest. The male leaves his mate as soon as she commences to sit, and
apparently does not join the family again until the young are nearly fully
grown. Incubation lasts from twenty-four to twenty-eight days, and but a
single brood is raised in a season. If there are exceptions to this rule they
are rare.
When incubation is somewhat advanced the Ruffed Grouse is loath to
leave her eggs, and will allow herself to be very closely approached, relying on
her color and motionless attitude for protection.
Mr. Lynds Jones writes me that he once stepped directly over a sitting
bird without knowing it until the bird flew off behind him. My. A. 8. Johnson,
of Hydeville, Vermont, relates a similar experience, as follows: “TI stood within
2 feet of a Ruffed Grouse sitting on her nest, which did not as much as wink
till I stooped over closer to see how near she would let me approach. Then
she slipped off the nest and skulked off 4 or 5 rods, stopping then to watch
what I was going to do. The nest contained ten eggs. I passed by the spot
several times after this and saw the bird on the nest each time, but did not dis-
turb her.”
The young are able to run about as soon as out of the shell and are cared
for by the mother as a hen manages her brood. Their food at first consists
almost entirely of insects (such as ants, beetles, small larvee, and grasshoppers)
and worms. When a little older they are taken to old wood roads for the double
purpose of feeding on berries and such grain as is found among the droppings
of horses, and more especially to take dust baths in order to free themselves
from vermin. The cluck of the mother resembles that of the common barn-
yard fowl, only it is more subdued. When suddenly alarmed, a shrill squeal is
given by the female; this, according to Dr. William L. Ralph, resembles very
much the whining of a young puppy; and while the parent faces. the in-
truder with every feather raised, the young hide quickly under anything in
the vicinity that may afford protection, and they remain there perfectly quiet
until called together again by their parent.
Till about half grown the Ruffed Grouse roosts with her young on the
ground, afterward in trees. They do not pack at any time of the year, but
remain in coveys, or what is left of these, seldom more than six or eight
birds being found together.
During the summer and fall the food of the Ruffed Grouse is quite varied.
Dr. A. K. Fisher, of the Department of Agriculture, Washington, District of
THE RUFFED GROUSE. 63
Columbia, writes me on this subject as follows: “The Ruffed Grouse is very
fond of grasshoppers and crickets as an article of diet, and when these insects
are abundant it is rare to find a stomach or crop that does not contain their
remains. One specimen, shot late in October, had the crop and stomach dis-
tended with the larve of Edema albifrons, a caterpillar which feeds exten-
sively on the leaves of the maple. Beechnuts, chestnuts, and acorns of the
chestnut and white oaks are also common articles of food. Among berries early
in the season, the blackberries, blueberries, raspberries, and elderberries are
eaten with relish, while later in the year the wintergreen (Gaultheria), partridge
berry (Mitchella), with their foliage, sumach berries Gncluding those of the
poisonous species), cranberries, black alder (ler), dogwood (Cornus), nanny-
berries (Viburnum), and wild grapes form their chief diet. In the fall the
foliage of plants often forms a large part of their food, that of clover, straw-
berry, buttercup, wintergreen, and partridge berry predominating.
‘CA fine male, shot at Lake George, New York, November 1, 1889, had the
crop and stomach distended with the leaves of the peppermint. In the winter
these birds feed on the buds of trees, preferring those of the apple, ironwood,
black and white birch, and poplar.”
The number of eggs to a set varies from eight to fourteen; about eleven
may be called a fair average. If the first set is destroyed, a second and
usually a smaller one is laid. Sets of sixteen eggs or over are of rare occur-
rence, but I have a reliable record of one numbering twenty-three eggs. Mr.
John T. Paintin, of Coralville, Johnson County, Lowa, found this set May 26,
1886, near the Iowa River, 10 miles north of Lowa City. He was walking
e almost stepped upon the
Grouse. The eggs were carefully counted and the number found to be
twenty-three; they were almost hatched, and were not disturbed.
In form they are ovate, or short ovate, their ground color varying from
milky white to pinkish buff. About one-half of the eggs in the U.S. National
Museum collection are more or less spotted with rounded dots, varying in size
from a No. 4 shot to mustard seed or dust shot. These markings vary from
pale reddish brown to drab color, and none of the eggs are heavily marked.
The average measurement of forty-four specimens in the U. 5. National
Museum collection is 38.5 by 30 millimetres, the largest egg of the series
measuring 40 by 32, the smallest 33 by 25 millimetres.
As there is practically no difference in the eggs of the geographical races
of the Ruffed Grouse, the type specimens figured have been selected with the
object of showing as nearly as possible the variations both in ground color and
markings, irrespective of race, similar specimens being sure to be found in a
along in the timber, and in stepping over a rotten lo
sutticiently large series of each form.
The type specimen of Bonasa wnbellus (No. 23308, PI. 2, Fig. 1), selected
from a set of eight eggs collected by Mr. C. W. Richmond, near Harper’s Ferry,
West Virginia, May 30, 1885, represents one of the lightest colored specimens
in the entire series, and is perfectly plain colored and unspotted.
64 LIFE HISTORIES OF NORTH AMERICAN BIRDS.
21. Bonasa umbellus togata (Linnaus).
CANADIAN RUFFED GROUSE.
Tetrao togatus LinNa&uS, Systema Nature, ed. 12, 1766, 275.
Bonasa umbellus togata Ripaway, Proceedings U. 8S. National Museum, vu,
1885, 355.
(B—, C—, R—, C, — U 300a.)
GEOGRAPHICAL RANGE: British Columbia, Washington and Oregon, excepting
the coast districts, and from Idaho north and eastward to James Bay (Moose Fac-
tory), northern and central Maine and Nova Scotia; south occasionally in the moun-
tains of New England and northern New York. —
This race inhabits and breeds in the wooded districts from the mouth
of the St. Lawrence River, westward through central and northern Maine and
thence throughout the British possessions to the eastern slopes of the Cascade
Range in Wesiitiney om and Oregon, as far south at least as Fort Klamath, close
to the boundary line of California. On the western slopes of the Bitter Root
Mountains it reénters the United States, and is the typical form found through-
out northern and middle Idaho, Oregon, and Washington east of the Cascades.
Thence it ranges northward along the eastern spurs of the Fraser River and
‘ariboo Mountains to Fort St. James, Stewart Lake, New Caledonia district, in
British Columbia, where it is common to about latitude 56°, and probably still
further north in this direction.
In the central Rocky Mountain region the range of the Canadian Ruffed
Grouse is locally intercepted by the southern extension of that of B. wmbellus
umbelloides, the latter being more of an Alpine form, and seemingly restricted to
the mountainous sections.
The habits of this race are very similar to those of the common Ruffed
Grouse. Throughout Canada and the British possessions it is better known
by the name of Partridge and Birch Partridge.
Mr. Ernest’ E. Thompson, of Toronto, Canada, has kindly placed his field
notes on this race at my disposal, and I make the following extracts from
them: ‘Every field man must be acquainted with the simulation of lame-
ness, by which many birds decoy or try to decoy intruders from their nests.
This is an invariable device of the Partridge, and I have no doubt that it is
quite successful with the natural foes of the bird, indeed it is often so with
man. A dog, as I have often seen, is certain to be misled and duped, and
there is little doubt that a mink, skunk, raccoon, fox, coyote, or wolf,
would fare no better. Imagine the effect of the bird’s tactics on a prowl-
ing fox; he has scented her as she sets, he is almost upon her, but she has
been watching him, and suddenly with a loud ‘whirr’ she springs up and
tumbles a few yards before him. The suddenness and noise with which the
bird appears causes the fox to be totally carried away; he forgets all his
former experience, he never thinks of the eggs, his mind is filled with the
ee
a
THE CANADIAN RUFFED GROUSE. 65
thought of the wounded bird almost within his reach; a few more bounds and
his meal will be secured. So he springs and springs, and very nearly catches
her, and in his excitement he is led on, and away, till finally the bird flies off,
leaving him a quarter of a mile or more from the nest.
“Tf instead of eggs the Partridge has chicks, she does not await the com-
ing of the enemy, but runs to meet and mislead him ere yet he is in the
neighborhood of the brood; she then leads him far away, and returning by
a circuitous route, gathers her young together again by her clucking. When
surprised she utters a well-known danger signal, a peculiar whine, whereupon
the young ones hide under logs and among grass. Many persons say they will
each seize a leaf in their beaks and then turn over on their backs. I have
_never found any support for this idea, although I have often seen one of the
little creatures crawl under a dead leaf. On July 3, 1884, while exploring in
the Carberry spruce bush, Manitoba, with a friend, we passed a tree at whose
roots was a Partridge’s nest, but we would not have discovered it had not the
mother pursued us some 20 feet and begun a vigorous attack on our legs,
whereupon we turned and found the nest. It was just at that critical moment
when the young were coming out. Those that were hatched, some six or
eight, hid so effectually within a space of 6 feet that no sign of them could
be seen. After their first rush, and once hidden, they ceased their plaintive
‘peeping’ and maintained a dead silence. Meanwhile, the mother was sorely
distressed, running about our feet with drooping wings, whining grievously, in
such entire forgetfulness of herself and in-such agony of anxiety for her young,
that the hardest hearted must have pitied her and have felt constrained to
leave her in peace, as we did.” '
Mr. Manly Hardy states: “The young run as soon as they chip the egg.
If disturbed when only a few days old, the hen immediately flies at the
intruder, making a loud noise, often striking him in the face or breast. The
young usually drop where they are, remaining: perfectly motionless. The
parent throws herself on her breast and kicks herself along with her feet, aided
by her spread wings, making a loud squealing noise. She goes just fast
enough so that the pursuer can not quite get his hand on her, recovering, in
a rod or two, to seem only broken-winged, and a short distance further on sud-
denly darting off. If one keeps quiet, in a short time she returns to the vicinity
and calls her chicks, who come out of their hiding places and rejoin her. I
have once seen the old cock with the brood, and on this occasion he gallantly
defended the rear, until the rest made good their escape. He stood with
wings raised and tail spread, ready to fight the intruder. I have seen the
young fly into a tree when still in the yellow down; and when not larger than
a Pine Grosbeak they will fly long distances, giving the alarm note of ‘quit,
quit,’ just like an old bird. The young, a few days old, are shyer than the
wariest adults. The noise made by the Ruffed Grouse in flying ‘is made on
purpose’ to alarm others in the vicinity; they can fly as quietly as any bird
if they choose.
26957—Bull. 1——5
66 LIFE HISTORIES OF NORTH AMERICAN BiRDS.
“The males never congregate during the breeding season or after, and I
never but once saw two adult males within one-fourth of a mile of each other
between April and September. I consider that the drumming is not a call to
the female, as they drum nearly or quite as much in the fall as in the spring,
and I have heard them drumming every month in the year. I have never
seen the least evidence that the Ruffed Grouse is polygamous.”
Besides the various foods mentioned in the previous article, the Canadian
Ruffed Grouse, according to Mr. Hardy, feeds not alone on the poplar buds,
but also on the hard old leaves. He writes me: ‘TI have killed one with its
crop filled with such leaves on the 20th of August, and they eat them contin-
uously, until the last have fallen in late October. They do this when other
food is abundant. Buds of willow, yellow and white birch, hophornbeam,
thorn plus, rosehips, leaves of tame sorrel, of the rock polypod, fungus from
birch trees, the seeds of touch-me-nots (Impatiens fulva), wild raisins, and high-
land cranberries (both species of Viburnum) form also a part of their bill of
fare. They seem to be especially fond of beechnuts. I have a record of
finding seventy-six in one bird’s crop and over sixty in another.”
Personally, I have met with this bird quite frequently in various portions
of Oregon and Washington, as well as in the north of Idaho, where it was
especially abundant and exceedingly tame and unsuspicious. On the trail
from Fort Lapwai, Idaho, to Fort Colville, Washington, in 1869 to 1871, I
have seen, more than once, over fifty of these birds in a day’s travel, without
looking for them. Coveys of from. eight to twelve were frequently met
lying in any dusty place on the trail, taking sun baths and scratching around
like chickens. When closely approached they would hop up or fly into the
nearest tree or bush and remain there perfectly unconcerned, and I have seen
them knocked down with sticks and stones.
On one of these trips, in the beginning of June, 1870, I saw a Rutfed
Grouse, with a brood of young, attack an Indian dog that had attached
itself to our party, and drive him off. We were riding through a little aspen
thicket, some 10 miles north of the Spokane River, when the dog suddenly
ran on the bird with her brood. She certainly looked the very incarnation
of fury, every feather on her body was standing on end, as she fairly flew
at the dog, perfectly reckless of consequences; but was so nimble and quick
in her movements that she escaped all harm, and actually compelled the
dog, by various peckings on the legs and head, to turn tail and run. At
the same time she uttered a sharp, hissing sound of defiance rather than
fear, which reminded me more of the hissing and spitting of an angry cat
than anything emanating from a bird.
The nesting habits of the Canadian Ruffed Grouse, as well as the eggs,
are in every respect similar to those of typical Bonasa wmbellus. Mr. J. W.
Banks, of St. Johns, New Brunswick, writes me: ‘‘Here with us a very com-
mon nesting place is what is called a fallow. This is a piece of woods
chopped down in the fall, to be burned when sufficiently dry, usually in the
THE CANADIAN RUFFED GROUSE. 67
latter part of May or early in June. Being composed chiefly of spruce and
fir, it burns very rapidly. I found two nests (or rather the remains, for the
eggs were badly scorched) in one of these burnt fallows, and a few feet from
each nest the bones of the mother Grouse. A farmer acquaintance told me
of finding a nest of this bird, which contained ten eggs, in a fallow he was
about to burn, and knowing of another nest with an equal number of eggs,
the thought occurred to him to put the eggs in the nest of the other bird
that would not be endangered by the fire, and watch developments. He had
the satisfaction of knowing that the eggs were hatched.”
A nest of this Grouse was found by Mr. R. MacFarlane, of the Hudson
Bay Company, near Fort St. James, British Columbia, May 16, 1889. It con-
tained eight nearly fresh eggs, and was placed close to the foot of a pine tree
in a slight depression scratched out by the bird. It was sparingly lined with
grass, dry leaves, and a few feathers, and situated near a small lake; the
female was snared on the nest. Judging from the number of skins of this
Grouse, sent on at the same time, it must be quite common there.
But one brood is raised in a season. Incubation lasts from twenty-four to
twenty-eight days, and does not begin until the clutch is completed, an egg,
I believe, being deposited daily. The number of eggs to a set varies from
eight to fourteen, rarely more. In form and color these are indistinguishable
from those of the former subspecies. In size they average a trifle larger. The
mean measurement of thirty-nine specimens in the U. 8. National Museum
collection is 40 by 31 millimetres, the largest ege of the series measuring
44 by 33, the smallest 37 by 29 millimetres. The type specimen, No. 4772
(Pl. 2, Fig. 2), selected from a set of eight, one of the darkest colored and most
distinctly marked eggs of the entire series, was obtained by J. R. Willis, near
Halifax, Nova Scotia, June, 1861.
22. Bonasa umbellus umbelloides (Dove.as).
GRAY RUFFED GROUSE.
Tetrao wmbelloides DouGLAS, Transactions Linnean Society, XVI, 1829, 148.
Bonasa wmbellus var. umbelloides BatrD, Birds of North America, 1858, 925.
(B 465*, C 385a, R 473a, C 566, U 3000.)
GEOGRAPHICAL RANGE: Rocky Mountain region of the United States and British
America, north to Alaska, east to Manitoba.
The Gray Rutfed Grouse, the lightest colored of the forms of Bonasa, in
which the gray tints strongly predominate over all others, inhabits the central
Rocky Mountain system, from latitude 65° (Kaltag Mountains, near the head of
Norton Sound) and the valley of the Yukon River in Alaska, south and south-
east along the Yukon and Mackenzie Rivers, through British North America,
eastern Idaho, Montana, western North Dakota, Wyoming, Utah, and Colo-
rado. Like the preceding, it is generally a resident and breeds wherever found.
68 LIFE HISTORIES OF NORTH AMERICAN BIRDS.
This well-marked and easily recognized subspecies, within the United
States inhabits the dense undergrowth usually found along the sides of canons
and the clear mountain streams running through these, from an altitude of
7,000 to 10,000 feet, and, excepting in the fall and winter, it is rarely seen in
the lower foothills or plains. Considering the isolated localities it inhabits,
where it is seldom molested by man, it is an extremely shy bird, much more
so than the Canadian Ruffed Grouse, and is not nearly so abundant as the
latter. It habits are similar; and, besides the usual food used by the members
of this family, in the late fall it feeds, to a great extent, on the leaves and fruit
of a species of wild plum, growing in abundance along the foothills of the
Big Horn Mountains in Montana, where, at that time of the year, it is often
found associated with the Sharp-tailed Grouse, and not uncommon. The
“ruffs,” instead of being of the usual dark color, are, in an occasional spec-
imen, of a beautiful bronze or coppery hue.
The nesting habits also, as well as the eggs of the Gray Ruffed Grouse,
are in no way different from those of the preceding subspecies.
Mr. Robert S. Williams, of Great Falls, Montana, writes me: ‘I found
a-nest of this subspecies July 3, 1889; it was placed under the trunk of a
fallen cottonwood tree, which rested about a foot from the ground. Otherwise
the nest was not concealed in any way. The eggs, eleven in number, were
evidently about to hatch, and I did not disturb them. Visiting the nest the
succeeding day, the old bird let me climb over the fallen trunk above her
without leaving the eggs.”
Mr. W. H. Dall, U.S. Coast Survey, found the Gray Ruffed Grouse nest-
ing near Nulato, Alaska, in May, and a set of eggs were found in an old willow
stump. The average measurement of twenty-nine eggs in the U.S. National
Museum collection is 40.5 by 30 millimetres. The largest egg of the series
measures 43 by 31.5, the smallest 88 by 30 millimetres. The type specimen,
(No. 22830, Pl. 2, Fig. 3), was taken May 18, 1886, by Mr. Ernest E. Thomp-
son, near Carberry, Manitoba. It is of a pure rich cream color and unspotted.
23. Bonasa umbellus sabini (Doucuas).
OREGON RUFFED GROUSE.
Tetrao sabini DouUGLAS, Transactions Linnzean Society, XVI, ili, 1829, 137.
Bonasa wmbellus var. sabinei Cours, Key to North American Birds, 1872, 235.
(B 466, C 385b, R 473b, C 567, U 300c.)
GEOGRAPHICAL RANGE: Coast Mountains of northern California, Oregon, Wash-
ington, and British Columbia.
The range of the Oregon Ruffed Grouse, the darkest and handsomest race
of the genus Bonasa, is restricted to the wooded portions of country between
the western slopes of the Coast Range and the Pacific Ocean, as well as the
islands adjacent thereto. It is found from about latitude 57°, in the vicinity of
Sitka, Alaska, south through western British Columbia, western Washington,
THE OREGON RUFFED GROUSE. 69
western Oregon, and northwestern California, it having been taken near Hum-
boldt Bay. Like the preceding, it is a constant resident and breeds wherever
found, its general habits differing in no particular from those of its allies. In
central Washington and Oregon it intergrades with the Canadian Ruffed Grouse,
the majority of specimens approaching closer to the last-mentioned race.
According to Dr. Suckley, owing to the mildness of the season in the vicinity
of Fort Steilacoom, the males commence drumming as early as January, and
in February they are heard to drum throughout the night. In the autumn
they collect in great numbers in the crab-apple thickets near the salt marshes
at the mouths of the rivers emptying into Puget Sound. There they feed for
about six weeks on the ripe fruit of the northwestern crab-apple, the Pyrus
rivularis of Nuttall.t
Nidification begins about the middle of April and lasts sometimes till late
in June. April 14 is the earliest date I have on which eggs have been found—
a record given me by Prof. O. B. Johnson, of the Washington University,
Seattle, Washington.
The number of eges to a set varies from seven to thirteen, rarely more.
A small set of six, partly incubated, were collected for me near North Saanich,
Vancouver Island, British Columbia, June 28, 1876; probably a second laying,
the first brood having been destroyed. The nest, a slight hollow in the ground
scratched out by the bird, was placed under the fallen branches of a spruce tree.
The cavity was lined with dead leaves and spruce needles, as well as a few
feathers. This nest was found close to a small creek and was well concealed.
Mr. A. W. Anthony found a nest in a similar situation near Beaverton, Oregon,
on May 16,1885. It contained seven eggs and incubation had commenced. A
single brood is usually reared in a season.
The average measurement of twenty specimens in the U. 8. National
Museum collection is 41 by 30.5 millimetres, the largest egg of the series
measuring 44 by 31.5, the smallest 38 by 29 millimetres. The type specimen
(No. 6886, Pl. 2, Fig. 4) was taken by Mr. James Hepburne, near Victoria,
British Columbia, in the spring of 1862.
24. Lagopus lagopus (Linnzvs).
WILLOW PTARMIGAN.
Tetrao lagopus LINN ®US, Systema Nature, ed. 10, 1, 1758, 159.
Lagopus lagopus STEJNEGER, Proceedings U. 8. National Museum, vit, 1885, 20.
(B 467, 470, C 386, R 474, C 568, U 301.)
GEOGRAPHICAL RANGE: Northern portions of northern hemisphere, south in
winter, in America to Sitka, Alaska, the British provinces, and occasionally within
the northern border of the United States.
The breeding range of the Willow Ptarmigan, or Willow Grouse, is con-
fined to the Arctie regions of America, the so-called fur countries, seldom
1 History of North American Birds, 1874, B. B. and R., Vol. m1, p. 454.
70 LIFE HISTORIES OF NORTH AMERICAN BIRDS.
extending further south than latitude 55°, and then only in the eastern por-
tions of its range, in Labrador and the shores of Hudson Bay. In winter these
birds are partly migratory, and are sometimes found in considerable numbers
as far south as latitude 50°, and stragglers on rare occasions have been taken
within the northern borders of the United States. According to Richardson,
considerable numbers remain in the wooded tracts, as far north as latitude 67°,
even in the coldest winters.
Mr. Ek. W. Nelson states: ‘In the northern portions. of their respective
range these Grouse are summer residents, frequenting the extensive open
country and being most abundant along the barren seacoast region of Bering
Sea and the Arctic coast; but in autumn, the last of August and during Sep-
tember, they unite in great flocks and migrate south to the sheltered banks of
the Kuskokwim and Yukon Rivers, and their numerous tributaries. In early
spring as the warmth of che returning sun begins to be felt, they troop back to
their breeding grounds once more.
“During a large portion of the year these birds form one of the most
characteristic accompaniments of the scenery in the northern portion of Alaska.
During the winter season these birds extend their range south to Sitka and
Kadiak, from whence specimens in white plumage are in the U.S. National
Museum collection.
“Toward the end of March, as the small bare spots commence to show on
the tundra, the Eskimo say, this will bring the Ptarmigan from the shelter
of the interior valleys, and their observation proves true.
‘““At St. Michael these birds commence their love-making according to the
character of the season. In some years by the Ist of April their loud notes of
challenge are heard; but the recurrence of cold weather usually puts a tem-
porary stop to their proceedings. About the 5th or 15th of this month the first
dark feathers commence to appear about the heads and necks of the males.
During some seasons the males make scarcely any progress in changing their
plumage up to the middle of May, when I have frequently seen them with
only a trace of dark about the head and neck. In the spring of 1878 the first
males were heard calling on the 26th of April, and on April 27, in 1879, the
males were just commencing to moult, showing a few dark feathers, but the
seasons were unusually late. In autumn the change frequently commences
the last of September, and by the first of October it is well under way, the
winter moult being completed towards the end of this month.
“At the Yukon mouth in the evening of May 24, these Ptarmigan were
heard uttering their hoarse notes all about. As we were sitting by the tent my
interpreter took my rifle, and going off a short distance worked a lump of snow
to about the size of one of these birds. Fixing a bunch of dark-brown moss
on one end of the snow to represent the bird’s head, he set his decoy upon a
bare mossy knoll; then retiring a short distance behind the knoll he began
imitating the call of the male until a bird came whirring along, and taking up
the gauntlet lit close by its supposed rival and fell a victim to the ruse.
THE WILLOW PTARMIGAN. 71
“The note used by the native in this instance was a peculiar nasal ‘yak-
yak-yak-yak.’ This was made by placing his hands over his mouth and closing
the nose with thumb and finger. At this time the males were continually pur-
suing each other or holding possession of prominent knolls, frequently rising
thence 5 to 10 yards in the air, with quick wing strokes, and descending with
stiffened wings with the tips curved downward. While ascending they uttered
a series of notes which may be represented by the syllables ‘kt-ké-ké-kti,’
which is changed as the bird descends to a hard rolling ‘kr-r-r-r-,’ in a very
deep guttural tone, ending as the bird reaches the ground. Frequently a pair
would fly at each other full tilt, and a few feathers would be knocked out, the
weaker bird quickly taking flight again, while the victor rises, as just described,
and utters his loud note of defiance and victory. On other occasions, when the
birds are more evenly matched, they fight fiercely until the ground is strewn
with feathers.
“By May 24 almost all these birds are paired, but some did not complete
their nuptials until the first few days in June. This Grouse takes but a single
mate in northern Alaska, and [ am informed by the natives of Unalaska that
the same is the case with the Rock Grouse found on the Aleutian Islands,
nor have I ever known of the Ptarmigan assembling in numbers about any
special meeting place to carry on their love affairs; they scatter about as pre-
viously mentioned, being seen singly here and there on prominent knolls over
the flat country. Karly in June, rarely so early as the last of May, the first
eges are laid; by June 20 and 25 the downy young are usually out, and when
approached the female crouches close to the ground amongst her brood. When
she sees it is impossible to escape notice, she rolls and tumbles away as though
mortally injured, and thus tries to lead one from her chicks. The young at the
same time try to escape by running away in different directions through the
grass. At this season the female and male both moult and assume a plumage
which differs considerably. The young are fledged and on the wing at varying
dates through July, and are nearly full grown by the 1st to the 10th of August.
They are handsome little creatures in brown and yellow down, with a chestnut
cap and black lines down the back. A few days after birth the young begin to
show traces of the first full plumage upon their breasts. * * *
“In nesting, these birds usually gather a few grasses and dry leaves, and
with them they loosely line a shallow depression which is situated on the side
of some slight knoll or dry place on the open grass and moss covered tundra.”!
Mr. L. M. Turner, in his manuscript on the birds of Labrador and Ungava,
makes the following statement regarding this species: ‘In the spring these
birds repair, as the snow melts, to the lower grounds and prepare for the
nuptial season. About the 10th of April they may be heard croaking or bark-
ing on all sides. A male selects a favorable tract of territory for the location
of the nest, and endeavors to induce a female to resort to that place. He
usually selects the highest portion of the tract, whence he launches into the
1Extracts from Report upon Natural History Collections made in Alaska, 1877-1881, Nelson, pp. 132-135.
G2 LIFE HISTORIES OF NORTH AMERICAN BIRDS.
air uttering a barking sound of nearly a dozen separate notes, thence sails or
flutters in a circle to alight at the place whence he started, or to alight on
another high place, from which he repeats the act while flying to his former
place. Immediately on alighting, he utters a sound similar to the Indian word
chii-cwan (what is it?) and repeats it several times, and in the course of a few
minutes again launches in the air. Early in the morning hundreds of these
birds may be heard, continuing until near 11 o’clock, when the bird then
becomes silent until after 3 o’clock, when he again goes through the same
performance, though with less vigor than in the morning. In the course of a
few days a female may be found in the vicinity. The actions of the male are
now redoubled, and woe be to any bird of his kind which attempts to even
cross his chosen locality. Battles ensue which for fierceness are seldom equaled
by birds of larger size.
“In the vicinity of Fort Chimo the nesting of this species begins during
the latter part of May. The nest is usually placed in a dry spot among the
swamps or on the hillsides where straggling bushes grow. The nest is merely
a depression in the mosses, and contains a few blades and stalks of grass,
together with a few feathers from the parent bird, which is now in the height
of the moult from the winter to the summer plumage.
“The first eggs obtained were two, on June 1, 1884, this being the
earliest record at Fort Chimo. The number laid for a set varies greatly in
different localities. At Fort Chimo, seven to nine is the usual number, although
in exceptional instances as many as eleven and rarely thirteen may be found.
While I was at St. Michael (Norton Sound, Alaska) I frequently found nests
containing as many as fifteen and several times found seventeen. I was there
informed that over twenty eges had been taken from a single nest. On neither
side of the continent did I hear that more than one female deposited eggs in
the same nest. I can affirm that a clutch of seven eggs may be taken, and,
if the nest be not disturbed, the female will deposit nearly the same number
again. These may again be taken, and not over three eggs will be depos-
ited, and if disturbed a third time she will lay no more unless she selects a
new location, which, of course, would be difficult to ascertain.
“T can not speak accurately on the subject, but think that seventeen days
are required to incubate the eggs. On the 20th of June I obtained a young
bird of this species, which was less than forty-eight hours out of the shell.
This was the earliest record. Thousands of these young must perish annually,
either from the cold rains, or from their parents being killed for food. The
Indians consider the downy young of the Ptarmigan a special delicacy, even if
taken from the shell; the bird serves in lieu of an oyster. I once had occasion
to require the services of several Indian women to blow some eggs, which,
during a pressure of other work, I had no time to do. I set them to work
and frequently went to see if the work was progressing satisfactorily. I
observed a pile of birds without, and some with feathers on, lying on a board.
I inquired why they were being reserved. An old woman picked up one of
THE WILLOW PTARMIGAN. 73
the birds by the leg, and throwing back her head opened her mouth and indi-
cated the purpose plainer than words could tell. After the middle of August
the birds have acquired a good size, and are then feeding on berries of various
kinds. They then are quite tender, of nearly white flesh, and when properly
prepared form a pleasant food for the table. The young birds of the year
attain their full growth by the Ist of November.”
Mr. R. MacFarlane, chief factor of the Hudson Bay Company, who is
exceedingly well qualified to speak about the Willow Ptarmigan, says: ‘This
species is exceedingly abundant in the neighborhood of Fort Anderson, on the
Lower Anderson River, and in the wooded country to the eastward. It is not,
however, common in the Barren Grounds, especially from Horton River to
Franklin Bay, where it is replaced by L. rupestris. The nest is invariably on
the ground, and consists of a few withered leaves placed in a shallow cavity or
depression. The female sometimes leaves it only when almost trodden under
foot, in fact several were swooped upon and caught thereon by hand. They
usually begin to lay about the end of May or the beginning of June. The
process of moulting, or the gradual assumption of their summer plumage, com-
mences a week or two earlier. The female lays from seven to ten, twelve, and
occasionally as many as thirteen, eggs, which I find was the greatest number
recorded, and we had reason to know that some, at least, of the nests were
used by Ptarmigan several seasons in succession. When very closely ap-
proached as stated, the female would frequently flutter off, sometimes spreading
her wings and ruffling her feathers, as if to attack or frighten away intruders,
and at other times calling out in distressed tones, and acting as if she had
been severely wounded.
“In one instance where an Indian collector had found a nest which con-
tained seven eggs, he placed a snare thereon; but on returning to the spot a
few hours afterwards he was surprised to find that six of the eggs had disap-
peared in the interim, and as no eggshells were left behind (the male escaped)
they were in all probability removed by the parents to a safer position. The
male bird is generally not far away from the nest, and his peculiarly hoarse
and prolonged note is frequently heard, the more especially between the hours
of 10 p.m. and 2.a.m. Both, however, displayed great courage and devotion
in protecting from capture their young, which we often encountered on our
return coast trips.
“About the end of September, during October, and early in November
L. lagopus assembles in great flocks, but during the winter it was seldom that
more than two or three dozen were ever noticed in single companies. They
are, however, most winters very numerous in the neighborhood of Fort Good
Hope and other Hudson Bay Company posts in the Mackenzie River district;
but as the spring sets in they begin to migrate northward. It is very doubt-
ful if many breed to the south of latitude 68°, at least in the valley of the
Anderson.”?
1 From R. MacFarlane’s Manuscript on Land and Water Birds Nesting in British North America.
44 LIFE HISTORIES OF NORTH AMERICAN BIRDS.
The food of the Willow Ptarmigan, during the early spring and summer,
consists principally of the buds and tender leaves of the various species of birch .
and willows found in that region, and several kinds of berries, such as arbutus,
cranberry, and whortleberry, as well as insects of different species, of which
they find an abundant supply during the short summer season.
All observations made on the habits of the Ptarmigan during the breeding
season tend to show that the male is equally devoted, and shows a strong
attachment for the young, assisting in taking care of them, and displaying
as great a solicitude for their safety as the female, differing in this respect from
most of the Grouse family, by whom the care and protection of the young is
apparently almost entirely left to their mates.
The nests of the Willow Ptarmigan are, as a rule, not particularly well
hidden, and judging from the large number of eggs of this species in the U.S.
National Museum collection, procured principally by Mr. R. MacFarlane, of
the Hudson Bay Company, near Anderson River Fort, in about latitude 68°,
they must be exceedingly abundant at this point.
The average number of eggs to a set is from seven to eleven, and but
one brood is raised in a season. The eggs vary in shape from ovate to
elongate ovate. The ground color ranges from cream color to a pronounced
reddish buff, with several intermediate shades. In some specimens it is very
clearly seen, in others it is almost completely obscured by the heavy con-
fluent blotches and markings. The latter vary from well-defined and nearly
even-sized spots of different sizes to confluent and clouded blotches, and
smears of various shades of dark reddish and clove brown, completely ob-
securing the ground color in some instances. All this coloring matter can be
readily removed in a freshly-laid egg, leaving the shell a pale creamy white,
and they show an almost endless variation in shape, color, and size. All the
specimens in the U. 8. National Museum collection were taken in the month
of June, the majority about the middle of this month.
The average measurement of two hundred and fifty specimens in the
U. 8S. National Museum collection is 43 by 31 millimetres. The largest egg
of this series measures 47 by 33.5, the smallest 39.5 by 28 millimetres, and
a runt specimen 20 by 17.5 millimetres.
The types selected to show the variations in the styles of markings and
coloration were obtained as follows: No. 6023 (Pl. 2, Fig. 5), from an in-
complete set of three, taken by G. Bannister near Whale River, Ungava
Bay, Labrador, June, 1862; No. 9251 (Pl. 2, Fig. 6), from a set of seven,
June 29, 1863; No. 10689 (Pl. 2, Fig. 7), from a set of seven, June 20,
1865; all the latter being from the region east of Anderson River Fort, British
North America, and collected by R. MacFarlane. No. 16461 (Pl. 2, Fig. 8),
from a set of eight, taken June 20, 1872, by W. H. Dall, U. S. Coast Survey,
on Popof Island (one of the Shumagin Group), Alaska Peninsula; No. 17042
(Pl. 2, Fig. 9), from a set of six, taken June 3, 1874, near St. Michael, Alaska,
THE WILLOW PTARMIGAN. 75
by L. M. Turner, U. S. Signal Service; and No. 21364 (Pl. 2, Fig. 10), from
a set of ten, taken June 11, 1880, at St. Michael, Alaska, by E. W. Nelson,
U.S. Signal Service.
25. Lagopus lagopus alleni Sresnecer.
ALLEN’S PTARMIGAN.
Lagopus alba allent StEINEGER, Auk, 1, 1884, 369.
Lagopus lagopus ailent STEJNEGER, Proceedings U. S. National Museum, vit, 1885, 20.
(B —, C—, R—, C—, U 301a.)
GEOGRAPHICAL RANGE: Newfoundland.
According to Dr. L. Stejneger this newly described subspecies is similar
to Lagopus lagopus, but distinguishable by having the shafts of both primaries
and secondaries black, the wing feathers and even some of the coverts
marked and mottled with the same color.
Dr. C. Hart Merriam refers to this bird in the Ornithologist and Odlo-
gist (Vol. vii, No. 6, 1883, p. 43) as the Common or Willow Ptarmigan,
and says: “It is still an abundant resident in Newfoundland, even in the
vicinity of St. Johns, and thousands of them are killed annually on the
peninsula of Avalon alone. It frequents rocky barrens, feeding on seeds and
berries of the stunted plants that thrive in these exposed situations.”
In his notes on the ‘“Zodlogy of Newfoundland,” Henry Reeks, esq., F.
L.8., makes the following statement, which unquestionably applies to this race:
“The Willow Grouse is called ‘ Partridge’ by the settlers, and it frequents beds
of alder and dwarf birch in swampy places, especially on the borders of lakes
and rivers. It breeds on the ground among stunted black spruce, in rather
drier situations.”!
The breeding range of this well-marked race of the Willow Ptarmigan
seems, as far as at present known, to be confined to the island of Newfound-
land, where it is a resident. I have been unable to find any description of
the eggs, which undoubtedly are indistinguishable from those of Lagopus
lagopus. j
26. Lagopus rupestris (GMELIN).
ROCK PTARMIGAN.
Tetrao rupestris GMELIN, Systema Nature, I, 11, 1788, 751.
Lagopus rupestris LEACH, Zoédlogical Miscellany, 11, 1817, 290.
(B 468, C 387, R 475, C 569, U 302.)
GEOGRAPHICAL RANGE: Arctic America in general, southeastward to the Gulf of
St. Lawrence (Anticosti), except the northern extremity of the peninsula of Labrador,
and region thence northward, Greenland and the Aleutian Islands.
The breeding range of the Rock Ptarmigan extends through Arctic North
America, from the Alaska Peninsula and Bering Strait, along the Arctic coast,
1 Zoblogist, second series, 1869, Vol. Iv, p. 1747.
76 LIFE HISTORIES OF NORTH AMERICAN BIRDS.
southeast through the Barren Grounds, to the west coast of Hudson Bay, the
Northeast Territory, and southern Labrador, and possibly Anticosti Island, in
the Gulf of St. Lawrence.
Mr. I. W. Nelson states that ‘this beautiful Ptarmigan is a common resi-
dent of the Alaskan mainland, and unlike the common White Ptarmigan it
frequents the summits of the low hills and mountains during the summer sea-
son, where it remains until the severe weather of early winter forces it down
to the lower elevations and under the shelter of the bush-bordered ravines
and furrows marking the slopes.”?
There is evidently but little difference in the general habits of this species
and those of the common Willow Ptarmigan, except that it frequents higher
altitudes during the breeding season.
We are indebted to Mr. R. MacFarlane for nearly all we know about the
breeding habits, nests, and eggs of this interesting species. He says: “This
Ptarmigan is not near so plentiful as LZ. lagopus, and we only met with it in any
considerable numbers from Horton River, Barren Grounds, to the shores of
Franklin Bay. Very few nests were found to the eastward of that river, or on
the coast or ‘barrens’ of the Lower Anderson. Its nest is similar but it lays
fewer eggs than L. lagopus, as nine proved to be the rarely attained maximum
among an aggregate record of sixty-five nests. The usual number was six or
seven, and there were some which held only four and five eggs. It was no easy
matter, however, to find the nests of this species, as the plumage of the birds
and the color of the eggs both strongly resembled the neighboring vegetation.
At the same time the female sat so very closely that more than one was caught
on the nest, and I recollect an instance where the female bird, on the very near
approach of our party, must have crouched as much as possible in the hope |
that she might not be noticed, which would have happened had not one of the
smartest of our Indian collectors caught a glance of her eye. Although lots of
male ‘Rockers’ were observed on our summer trips, feeding and otherwise
disporting themselves in the ‘barrens,’ yet comparatively few nests were
obtained, and, except in 1862, not one well-identified example was discovered
west of Horton River, but during the winter scores of L. rupestris were met
with in the forest country east of Fort Anderson.” *
The “ Barren Grounds,” so often peferred to in connection with the breed-
ing grounds of numerous birds, are thus described by Mr. kh. MacFarlane in a
paper entitled, “On an Expedition down the Begh-Ula or Anderson River:”
“The belt of timber which at Fort Anderson * extends for over 30 miles to the
sastward, rapidly narrows and becomes a mere fringe along the Anderson
River, and disappears to the northward of the sixty-ninth parallel of latitude.
The country is thickly interspersed with sheets of water varying in size from
mere small ponds to small and fair sized lakes. In traveling northeast. toward
' Report on the Natural History Collections made in Alaska 1877-1831, Nelson, p. 136.
2 From R. MacFarlane’s Manuscript on Land and Water Birds Nesting in British North America.
2 Established on Anderson River in 1861, and «abandoned in 1866. Approx. lat. 68° 35’.
THE ROCK PTARMIGAN. U7
Franklin Bay, on the Arctic coast, several dry, swampy, mossy, and peaty
plains were passed before reaching the ‘Barren Grounds’ proper. The country
thence to the height of land between the Anderson and the deep gorge-
like valley through which the Wilmot Horton River (MacFarlane River of
Petitot’s map) flows, as well as from the ‘crossing’ of the latter to the high
plateau which forms the western sea-bank of Franklin Bay, consists of vast
plains or steppes of a flat or undulating character, diversified by some small
lakes and gently sloping eminences, not dissimilar in appearance to portions of the
Northwest prairies. In the region here spoken of, however, the ridges occasion-
ally assume a mound-like hilly character, while one or two intersecting affluents
of the Wilmot Horton flow through valleys in which a few stunted spruce, birch,
and willows appear at intervals. On the banks of one of these, near its mouth,
we observed a sheltered grove of spruce and willows of larger growth, wherein
moose and musk oxen had frequently browsed. We met with no more spruce,
nor any traces of the moose to the eastward, and I doubt if many stragglers
range beyond latitude 69° north.
“The greater part of the Barren Grounds is every season covered with
short grasses, mosses, and small flowering plants, while patches of sedgy or
peaty soil occur at longer or shorter distances. On these, as well as along the
smaller rivulets, river and lake banks, Labrador tea, cranberries, and a few
other kinds of berries, dwarf birch, willows, ete, grow. Large, flat spaces had
the honeycombed appearance usually presented in early spring by land which
has been turned over in autumn. There were few signs of vegetation on
these, while some sandy and many other spots were virtually sterile. * * *
These Barren Grounds are chiefly composed of a peaty, sandy, clayey, or
gravelly soil, but stones are rare and rock 7m situ (limestone?) was encountered
only two or three times on the line of march from the woods to the coast.”!
This description will give the reader a good idea of the summer home of
the Rock Ptarmigan; and while its food differs probably but slightly from that
of the Willow Ptarmigan, it must necessarily be restricted to a much smaller
variety. Their nests, usually placed among the dwarf brush or sedge-covered
patches of the tundras on these barrens, are much harder to find than those
of the latter, and the U.S. National Museum is almost entirely indebted to
the indefatigable Mr. R. MacFarlane for the handsome series of eggs of this
species in the collection, all of which, with the exception of a single set, were
obtained by him.
Nidification begins about the middle of May in Alaska, and correspond-
ingly later in the Barren Grounds, usually from June 15 to July i0. But a
single brood is raised in a season. ‘The number of eggs to a set varies from six
to ten, rarely more, and usually but seven or eight are laid. These are ovate
or short ovate in form, resembling the eggs of Lagopus lagopus considerably
both in color and markings, but they average smaller. The majority are
readily distinguished from those of the latter, the markings as a rule being
1Canadian Record of Science, January, 1890, pp. 52,53.
78 LIFE. HISTORIES OF NORTH AMERICAN BIRDS.
smaller and better defined, and seldom running into indistinct and irregular
blotches as is frequently the case in the eges of that species.
The ground color ranges from a pale cream to a decided yellowish-buff,
and in many specimens this is entirely hidden by a vinaceous rufous suffusion.
The spots and blotches range from a dark clove brown to a dark claret red,
with paler colored edgings; they are of various sizes, from the size of a buck-
shot to that of No. 10 shot, and are irregularly distributed over the ege.
The average measurement of ninety.nine specimens in the U. S. National
Museum collection is 42 by 30 millimetres. The largest egg in this series
measures 44 by 32.5, the smallest 39 by 29 millimetres.
The types selected to show the different styles of markings are as follows:
No. 7642 (Pl. 2, Fig. 11), from an incomplete set of three eggs, taken near
Franklin Bay, Arctic coast, June 26, 1883; No. 9268 (Pl. 2, Fig. 12), from a
set of eight, taken near Anderson River, Arctic America, June 10, 1863; No.
9273 (Pl. 2, Fig. 13) from an incomplete set of four, same locality, taken
July 7, 1863; and No. 9284 (Pl. 2, Fig. 14), from a set of six, same locality,
June 3, 1863; all having been collected by Mr. MacFarlane. No. 14997
(Pl. 2, Fig. 15) is from a set of ten eggs, taken in the Gens-du-large or
Romanzof Mountains, Alaska, by Mr. James McDougall, of the Hudson Bay
Company, in the latter part of May, 1869.
27. Lagopus rupestris reinhardti (Breum).
REINHARDT’S PTARMIGAN.
Lagopus reinhardii (err. typ.) BREHM, Lehrbuch europiischer Vogel, 1823, 440.
Lagopus rupestris reinhardti Buastus, List European Birds, 1862, 16.
(B—, C —, R—, C —, U 302a.)
GEOGRAPHICAL RANGE: Greenland, islands on western side of Cumberland Gulf,
and northern extremity of Labrador (Ungava).
The breeding range of Reinhardt’s Ptarmigan, as known at present,
includes both shores of Baffin Bay, Davis Strait, and Hudson Strait, ranging
well up into the Arctic circle. It is a common bird tm Greenland, and a
number of its eges collected in the vicinity of Sukkertoppen are in the U.S.
National Museum collection.
It is not at all rare in the northern portions of Labrador, and Mr. L. M.
Turner, of the U.S. Signal Service, makes the following statement regarding
this subspecies, in his “Notes on the Birds of Labrador and Ungava:”
“This Ptarmigan is known to the white people as the Rock Grouse, or
simply as ‘Rocker.’ In the southern portion of Labrador these Ptarmigan are
not very numerous, but become so as the more northern and elevated portions
of the country are reached. They prefer more open ground ‘and rarely straggle
even into the skirts of the wooded tracts’ The hilltops and ‘barrens’ (hence often
called Barren Ground Bird) are their favorite resorts. As these tracts are more
REINHARDTS PTARMIGAN. 79
extensive in the northern portions of Labrador and Ungava, these birds are
there very abundant. During the summer months they are quite scarce in the
vicinity of Fort Chimo, retiring to the interior and the hills of George River
for that season. In the month of May the nuptial season arrives and is con-
tinued until about June, when nesting and laying begin. The birds are by
this time scattered, each pair now taking possession of a large tract of stunted
vegetation, among which they make their nest and rear their young. I was
never able to procure the eggs of this species. Only young birds a few days
old were brought to me, and some of larger size.
‘As before stated the mating season begins in May, and during this period
the male acts in the strangest manner to secure the affection of his chosen mate.
He does not launch high in air and croak like the Willow Ptarmigan, but runs
around his prospective bride with tail spread, wings either dragging like those
of the common Turkey, or else his head and neck stretched out, and breast in
contact with the ground, pushing himself in this manner by the feet, which are
extended behind. The male at this time ruffles every feather of his body,
twists his neck in various positions, and the supraorbital processes are swollen
and erect. He utters a most peculiar sound, something like a growling ‘kurr-
kurr, and as the passior of the display increases the bird performs the most
astonishing antics, such as leaping in the air without effort of wings, rolling
over and over, acting withal as if beside himself with ardor.
“The males engage in most desperate battles; the engagement lasts for
hours, or until one is utterly exhausted, the feathers of head, neck, and breast
strewing the ground. A manceuvre is for the pursued bird to lead the other off
a great distance and suddenly fly back to the female, who sits or feeds as
unconcerned as it is possible for a bird to do. She acts thoroughly the most
heartless coquette, while he is a most passionately devoted lover. He will
rather die than forsake her side, and often places himself between the hunter
and her, uttering notes of warning for her to escape, while attention is drawn
to him, who is the more conspicuous.
“When the young are with the parents they rely upon their color to
hide themselves among the nearly similar vegetation from which they pro-
cure their food. I am certain I have walked directly over young birds
which were well able to fly. If the parent birds are first shot, the entire
number of young may be secured, as they will not fly until nearly trodden
upon, and then only for a few yards, where they may easily be seen. I
have found on two occasions an adult female with a brood of thirteen
young. All of the flocks were secured without trouble. At other times
only three or four young would be found with both parents. The young
are very tender when first hatched; no amount of most careful attention
will induce them to eat, and after only a few hours’ captivity they die. I
could never keep them alive above twelve hours. The changeable weather,
sudden squalls of snow or rain, must be the death of scores of these deli-
cate creatures. Their note is a soft piping ‘pe-pe-pe,’ uttered several times,
80 LIFE HISTORIES OF NORTH AMERICAN BIRDS.
and has the same sound as that of the young of the Bob White, Colinus
virginianus.
“In thé young birds just hatched, and up to the age of three weeks, it
is difficult, if possible at all, to distinguish them to a certainty from the
young of Lagopus lagopus of the same age. They are slightly darker, and
the lower parts have a greenish tinge to the down instead of yellow, as in
the young of L. lagopus. Although I have preserved a great number of
these young birds I would still hesitate to assert to which of the two species
they belong. After the age of three weeks they may be easily distinguished
by the bill. By the 10th of August the wing quills have begun to show
the winter plumage. The first primary is then white and nearly half. its
normal length, with the second and third showing considerable development.
The bird is at this time about the size of a Bob White (Colinus virginianus).”
The food of Reinhardt’s Ptarmigan during the summer consists of insects
as well as various leaves and berries, such as those of the crowberry (Zm-
petrum nigrum), whortleberries, the tender leaves of the dwarf birch and white
birch (Betula alpestris) as well as the buds, willow buds, and sorrel. Mr.
Ludwig Kumlien shot a specimen near Cumberland Sound, whose crop was
crammed full of sphagnum moss. They are usually met with in small coveys
from six to ten birds, rarely more.
But a single brood is reared in a season. The eggs are usually depos-
ited during the month of June, and the sets vary from six to fourteen, very
rarely more. They are absolutely indistinguishable from those of the Rock
Ptarmigan Lagopus rupestris; in fact, the average measurement of thirty-
three specimens in the U. 8. National Museum collection, from Greenland,
corresponds exactly with that of the preceding species, giving an average
of 42 by 30 millimetres. The largest egg of the series measures 44 by 32,
the smallest 40 by 29 millimetres. The majority of these eggs were collected
near Godthaab and Sukkertoppen, Greenland, and are a gift of Governor E.
Fencker.
None are figured, as they are exactly like the eggs of Lagopus rupestris.
28. Lagopus rupestris nelsoni STEJNEGER.
NELSON’S PTARMIGAN.
Lagopus rupestris nelsoni STEJNEGER, Auk, 1, 1884, 226.
(B—, C—, R—, C —, U 3020.)
GEOGRAPHICAL RANGE: Island of Unalaska ana adjacent islands in the Aleutian
Chain.
The types of this comparatively new race were taken by Mr. Nelson, at
Unalaska, one of the Aleutian Islands; he reports it as common there, frequent-
ing the mountain tops and slopes, and breeding in June.
NELSON’S PTARMIGAN. 81
Mr. Turner, in his “Contributions to the Natural History of Alaska,” refers
to this subspecies in his article on Lagopus rupestris, from which it had not
been separated when his account was written. He says:
“On some of the islands it is extremely abundant, among those may be
mentioned Unalaska, Unimak, Akutan, and Akun. It is a resident where
found, and, among the islands, rarely leaves its native island. At Unalaska
they seem to prefer the high rocky ledges, but everywhere come down to the
low narrow valleys to roost and rear their young. They rarely assemble in
large flocks; a dozen to twenty individuals usually compose a flock. The
season begins in the early part of May, and is continued for about mating
three weeks, by which time the site for the nest is chosen, usually amidst the
tall grasses at the mouth of a wide valley, or else on the more open tundra
among the moss and scanty grass.
“The nest of this bird is composed of a few stalks of grass and the feath-
ers that may fall from the mother’s breast. The nest is a very careless affair,
and often, near the completion of incubation, the eggs will lie on the bare
ground surrounded by a slight circle of grass stalks that have apparently been
kicked aside by the mother impatient of her task. The number of eges varies
from nine to seventeen, eleven being the usual number. The exact date of
incubation was not determined by me. The young are able to follow the
mother as soon as they are hatched.
‘As this bird never collects into large flocks, I always supposed the flocks
seen in winter were the parents with the brood reared the previous summer.”
There are no eggs of Nelson’s Ptarmigan in the U.S. National Museum
collection, neither have any of the ornithologists, who met with this subspecies,
described them. There is every reason to presume, however, that they are
indistinguishable from the eggs of the Rock Ptarmigan.
29. Lagopus rupestris atkhensis (Turner).
TURNER'S PTARMIGAN.
Lagopus mutus atkhensis TURNER, Proceedings U.S. National Museum,'v, July 29,
1882, 227, 230.
Lagopus rupestris atkhensis NELSON, Cruise of the Corwin, 1883, 56e+82.
(B—, C—, R—, C—, U 302c.)
GEOGRAPHICAL RANGE: Atka Island, Aleutian Chain.
Mr. K. W. Nelson states: ‘“Among the specimens secured by Mr. L. M.
Turner, during his residence in the Aleutian Islands, are four Ptarmigans,
which, upon examination, prove to represent a well-marked geographical race
of L. rupestris. His specimens were secured June 7 and May 29, upon Atka
Island, at the extreme western end of the Aleutian Chain. They are found
upon this island, and undoubtedly upon those adjoining. * * * It is
undoubtedly to this race that Mr. Dall refers in his ‘Contribution to the
26957—Bull. 1——6
82 LIFE HISTORIES OF NORTH AMERICAN BIRDS.
Ornithology of the western end of the Aleutian Chain,’ when he speaks of
finding nine much incubated eggs on June 21, at Attu Island, and chicks
which were hatched at Kiska July 8.”?
Mr. Turner himself writes: ‘When I first obtained these birds I was
struck with the greater size, and also, with the shape of the bill, and greater
length of the claws when compared with the mainland bird. This bird fre-
quents the lowlands and hills of the western islands of the Aleutian Chain.
They are quite plentiful on Atka, Amchitka, and Attu Islands. The nest is
built amongst the rank grasses at the bases of hills and the lowlands near
the beach. It is carelessly arranged with a few dried grass stalks and other
trash that may be near. The eggs vary from eleven to seventeen, and are
darker in color than those of the ZL. rupestris and but slightly inferior in size
to those of L. lagopus. A number of eggs of this species were procured, but
broken in transportation; hence, I can give no measurements of them.
“The general habits of this species are those of the other species. At
Attu they frequent the higher elevations, probably on account of the great
number of foxes (Valpes lagopus Batrp) which occur on that island and have
but little to subsist on. The natives of Attu assert that this species of Ptar-
migan occurs on Agattu Island, and that it is quite numerous there, probably
on account of the absence of foxes.”?
Nothing further is known of the nesting habits of Turner’s. Ptarmigan,
and no specimens of their eggs have as yet found their way into the U.S.
National Museum collection.
30. Lagopus welchi Brewster.
WELCH’S PTARMIGAN.
Lagopus welchi BREwstER, Auk, 1, April, 1885, 194.
(B—, C —, R —, C —, U 303.)
GEOGRAPHICAL RANGE: Newfoundland.
This newly described species is based on specimens obtained during May
and June, 1883, by Mr. George O. Welch, in whose honor it has been named.
Mr. Brewster states: ‘The colors in the male of this Ptarmigan are con-
fused and blended to such a degree that a detailed description, however care-
fully drawn, fails to do them justice. The general effect is that of a dark,
grayish-plumbeous bird (colored not unlike the Oregon form of the Dusky
Grouse), plentifully besprinkled with fine dots of pepper-and-salt color. * * *
“According to Mr. Welch these Ptarmigan are numerous in Newfound-
land, where they are strictly confined to the bleak sides and summits of rocky
hills and mountains in the interior. Unlike the Willow Grouse of that island,
which in winter wander long distances and frequently cross the Gulf to Lab-
1 Report on the Natural History Collections made in Alaska 1877-1881, Nelson, p. 139,
°Contributions to the Natural History of Alaska, 1886, Turner, p. 156.
RE SNR RS
hepetpa
WELCH’S PTARMIGAN, 83
rador, the Rock Ptarmigan are very local, and for the most part spend their
lives on or near the hills where they are reared.”!
In his notes on the “Zodlogy of Newfoundiand,” in the Zodlogist (second
series, 1869, Vol. tv, p. 1747), Henry Reeks, esq., refers to the present species,
under the name of Rock Ptarmigan, as follows: ‘‘A truly Alpine species in New-
foundland; rarely found below the line of stunted black spruce, except in the
depths of winter, when they descend to the lowlands and feed on the buds
of dwarf trees, sometimes in company with the Willow Grouse; but I never
saw this species perch on trees. It is called by the settlers the ‘Mountain
Partridge.”
The nest and eggs of this species have not as yet, so far as I am aware,
been described, but are presumably similar to those of Lagopus rupestris.
31. Lagopus leucurus Swainson.
WHITE-TAILED PTARMIGAN.
Lagopus leucurus SwWAINson, Fauna Boreali Americana, 11, 1831, Pl. 63.
(B 469, C 388, R 476, C570, U 304.)
GEOGRAPHICAL RANGE: Alpine summits of Rocky Mountains; south to New
Mexico; north into British America (as far as Fort Halkett, Liard River) ; west to
higher ranges of Oregon, Washington, and British Columbia.
The breeding range of the White-tailed Ptarmigan, within the United
States at least, is only found on or near the summits of the higher mountain
ranges, and apparently always above timber line. It extends from Alaska
southward through western North America, reaching its most southerly point
in northern New Mexico (vicinity of Taos), where Dr. B. J. D. Irwin, U. S.
Army, obtained specimens near Cantonment Burgwyn. It has also been met
with in eastern Idaho, Montana, Wyoming and Colorado, where, in suitable
localities, it is by no means rare.
On the Pacific coast it is reported common in the mountains of Brit-
ish Columbia and the Olympic and Cascade Ranges in Washington, espe-
cially on Mounts Baker, Ranier, and St. Helen’s. In Oregon it is reported
from Mounts Hood and Jefferson, and, according to Indian testimony, it occurs
as far south as Diamond Peak, 60 miles north of Fort Klamath, Oregon. I
know of no record, however, that this species has actually been taken in
Oregon. The Washington records are given on the authority of Prof. O. B.
Johnson, of Washington University, Seattle, Washington, as well as of other
correspondents.
Mr. W. M. Wolfe, of Kearney, Nebraska, writes me of having found the
White-tailed Ptarmigan in the Wind River Mountains, Wyoming, and in
the Bitter Root Mountaing of Idaho and Montana.
It is a resident and breeds wherever found, rarely leaving the mountain
summits, even chaning the severest winter weather, and then only descending
1 Brew So Auk, 11, April, 1885, pp. 194, 195,
84 LIFE HISTORIES OF NORTH AMERICAN BIRDS.
2,000 or 3,000 feet at most, seldom being found at a lower altitude than
8,000 or 9,000 feet at any time. In the Rocky Mountain region it is gen-
erally known by the very appropriate name of the “White” or “Snow”
Quail.
Mr. George Bird Grinnell has kindly furnished me the following infor-
mation about this species: “I have found the White-tailed Ptarmigan in con-
siderable numbers in Colorado, Montana, and British Columbia. Where I
have seen them they have always been above timber lime. Although on a
few oceasions I have met with these birds in the late summer when the
young were little more than half grown and the broods were still together,
my experience with them has been chiefly in the autumn when hunting
mountain sheep and white goats high up among the summits of the ranges.
At this season of the year they are usually found in small numbers, from
two to a half dozen being the ordinary size of the flocks. Last year, how-
ever (October, 1889), I came across a pack of these birds in the Cascade
Mountains of British Columbia, where there were twenty-five or thirty
together. In the autumn the birds are generally rather wild, and if nearly
approached become quite uneasy and run about, holding the tail elevated
and looking very much like a white Fan-tail Pigeon. At this season the
only ery that I have heard is a sharp cackle like that of a frightened hen.
This the bird begins to utter a short time before it takes wing, and con-
tinues it for quite a little while after having begun to fly.
“On the high plateaus where this bird is found the wind often blows
with a tremendous sweep and is almost strong enough to throw down a
man. When such a wind is blowing the Ptarmigan dig out for themselves
little nests or hollows in the snow banks, in which they lie with their heads
toward the wind and quite protected from it.
“Often on the rocky slopes where there is no snow they may be seen
lying crouched on the ground behind rocks or small stones, with their heads
directed to the quarter from which the wind blows. If startled from such
a place they all take wing at once, looking like a flock of white Pigeons,
and fly for a short distance, but as soon as they touch the ground again
they throw themselves flat on it behind the most convenient shelter. Among
the high mountains of the St. Mary’s Lake region in Montana I have seen
birds of this species which were pure white by the 20th of September. On
the other hand, in the Cascade region of British Columbia, they have still a
good many brown spots in early October. I presume the change of pluma
varies with the locality and often with the individual bird.”
Mr. A. W. Anthony writes me as follows: “In southern Colorado, where
I have met with this species, nesting must begin some time from the first to
the middle of June, as I have found young birds but an hour or so from
the ege, from July 1 to the 18th. The nests I have seen were located in
the loose rocky débris of steep hillsides, a simple depression in the short fine
grass which grows in small patches between the rocks above the timber line
oe
ge
THE WHITE-TAILED PTARMIGAN. 85
Although utterly devoid of protection from bush or shrub, so nearly does the
sitting bird resemble the gray bowlders which surround her on every side that
the discovery of the nest is due largely to accident. When incubating it is
nearly impossible to flush the bird, according to my experience. Twice have I
escaped stepping upon a sitting Ptarmigan by only an inch or so, and once I
reined in my horse at a time when another step would have crushed out the
life of a brood of nine chicks but an hour or so from the egg. In this case
the parent crouched at the horse’s feet, and, though in momentary danger of
being stepped on, made no attempt to escape until I had dismounted and put
out my hand to catch her. She then fluttered to the top of a rock a few
feet distant, and watched me as I handled the young, constantly uttering low
anxious protests. The chicks were still too young to escape, mere little
awkward bunches of down that stumbled and fell over one another when
they attempted to run.
“Miners in whom I place confidence have told me that they have lifted
sitting Ptarmigan from the nest and handled the eggs, while the bird stood
but a few feet distant watching her treasures and uttering an occasional
squeak like a sitting hen. One, which had her nest near the trail between
the cabin and the mine, was annoyed in this way so often that she would
attempt to regain the nest while the eggs were being handled, and had to
be frequently pushed aside; she never failed to peck at the hand and utter
her protesting ‘k-r-rrr’ whenever any one attempted to touch her, and made
no attempt to fly away.
“T have never heard of a nest at a lower elevation than one I found in
Saguache County, Colorado, which was not over 200 feet above timber line.
I think that they usually nest above 12,000 feet. Judging from the broods
of young I have flushed in August, I consider nine about the average number.”
Mr. Drew, in his field notes on the Birds of San Juan County, Colorado,
makes the following statement about this “species: ‘‘Very common; breeds.
They are found above timber line in summer, where they feed on the leaves
and flowers of the marsh marigold, Caltha leptosepala. * * * They are
usually quiet during the day, but active and noisy in the evening, making a
cackling like Prairie Chickens. * * * They have from eight to ten young
at a brood.”?
Mr. Dennis Gale writes me as follows: ‘Irrespective of season, as a general
rule, a single bird will not flush unless urged to it. During the summer months
this is especially noticeable; they will only move out of your way when
directly in your path, and close upon them, by short tacks right and left,
sidling off from you, at each tack changing sides, moving quickest on the
short run just before slowing up for the turn. Two or more together are
much more likely to flush, and if alarmed while flying will utter a quick
repeated ‘kéck, kéck,’ very like the note uttered by Pediocetes phasianellus
campestris under similar circumstances.
1 Bulletin Nuttall Ornithological Club, Vol. v1, 1881, p. 141.
86 LIFE HISTORIES OF NORTH AMERICAN BIRDS.
‘““As near as I can decide, they nest about the middle of June and hatch
out their young about the middle of July. It is very rarely that a female is
seen from the beginning of June until noticed in company with her brood.
At this season I have frequently met with the males singly, and sometimes as
many as five together; and I do not think that they take any share in the
duties of incubation.
“T met with two broods, one with, I think, seven chicks just hatched out,
and the other of five, nearly two weeks old. The latter showed no white; they
had, in both cases, a general gray appearance; the newly hatched brood was
in the downy phase. There was a disposition, clearly proven with the chicks
of both broods, to hide when the hen signaled danger; but some of the older
ones flushed and flew at least 50 yards. The females were very tame and
would not flush, in fact they could not be induced by mild treatment to leave
the place where the young had hidden. They walked around me so close that
I could have touched them with my hand, and showed a marked concern for
the safety of their broods, clucking in‘a manner very similar to our domestic
hen. Iam of the opinion that this species is very much less numerous now
than they were ten years ago, and I believe the conditions generally favor a
yearly contraction in their numbers; at least this will be the case wherever
their summer range is available for stock to graze over.”
The crop of a bird of this species, kindly sent me by Mr. Gale for exami-
nation as to the nature of its food, was filled with the buds and catkins of a
species of birch, Betula glandulosa.
The number of eggs to a set are variously stated at from four to fifteen.
From eight to ten may be considered a fair average. Notwithstanding the
fact that the nests of the White-tailed Ptarmigan are said to have been found
repeatedly, but very few of the eggs of this species have as yet found their
way into collections. The U. 8. National Museum has an incomplete set of
four, taken by Mr. A. D. Wilson, one of the chiefs of the Hayden Geological
Survey, in the San Juan Mountains, southern Colorado, at an altitude of 12,300
feet. He told me that he accidentally stumbled on the nest, while crossing
a rocky mesa, on the morning of July 15, 1875. ‘The nest was placed between
a couple of lichen-covered rocks, and contained, if he remembered rightly, five
or six nearly fresh eges. The female skulked off as he was in the act of step-
ping over her, and hid amongst the rocks some 20 feet away.
Dr. Elliott Coues, in an article ‘““On the breeding habits, nest, and eges
of the White-tailed Ptarmigan,” describes this nest as follows: ‘The nest in its
present state measures scarcely 5 inches in diameter by about an inch in
depth. It thus seems rather small for the size of the bird, but is probably
somewhat compressed in transportation. The shape is saucer-like, but with
very litle concavity of surface. The bottom is decidedly and regularly convex
in all directions, apparently fitting a considerable depression in the ground.
The outline is to all intents circular. The nest is rather closely matted, the
material interlacing it in all directions, and retains considerable consistency.
THE WHITE-TAILED PTARMIGAN. 87
The material is chiefly fine dried-grass stems; with these are mixed, however,
a few small leaves and weed tops and quite a number of feathers. The latter,
evidently those of the parent birds, are imbedded throughout the substance of
the nest, though more numerous upon its surface, where a dozen or so are
deposited; there may have been some loose ones lost in handling.”
A set of these rare eggs has recently been obtained by Mr. Thomas H.
Jackson, of West Chester, Pennsylvania, who kindly allowed me to examine
it, and placed all the information regarding it at my disposal. This set, con-
taining but four eggs, in which meubation had already begun, was taken by
Mr. Evan Lewis, in the vicinity of the Chicago Lakes, in Clear Creek County,
Colorado, on June 19, 1890, at an altitude of about 12,200 feet. The nest
itself was but a slight hollow in the ground, lined with a few small twigs,
blades of grass, and a few feathers. It was about such a nest as a Bantam hen
would make.
Mr. Lewis says: “The bird did not leave the nest until I stepped within a
foot of it; then she strutted around, dragging her wings, very much like a
Turkey does. When I returned to get the eggs, she allowed me to stroke her
with my hand, and was about as tame as an average hen is when sitting.
Foxes are very numerous around here, so that I did not dare to leave the eggs
to see if others would be laid. I saw several of these birds, both males and
females, the latter always between 3 and 5 o’clock p.m. The location of this
nest, just above timber line, on the level top of a ridge, near isolated patches
of dwarf willows, made me think they always nested in such places; but one
sitting bird I saw feeding started up the mountain, running a short distance,
then flew about a thousand feet, and after resting a few seconds repeated its
flight and disappeared over the top of the mountain.
“T met a covey of young Ptarmigan about July 17, 1886, near the top of
the mountain, at an altitude of about 13,000 feet. They were not very shy,
and my companion and I counted them. I am not quite positive as to the
number, but am under the impression there were nine or fifteen. I judged
them to be nearly two weeks old. I ran after one, which tried to creep
under a large rock, and I readily caught it. The old bird flew around my
head and came close enough to knock my hat off, and as soon as we were
about 100 feet away she began to call her flock together. I never saw
more than two adult birds together, and should two males meet they imme-
diately commence fighting, till one finally drives the other away.”
The shape of the White-tailed Ptarmigan’s eggs is an elliptical ovate.
Their ground color varies from a creamy buff to a pale reddish or salmon
buff. The markings are few, generally small in size and well defined. Some
egos, however, are much more heavily spotted than others, and in these the
markines are more irregular and in the shape of blotches. These markings
vary from reddish brown to chocolate brown.
1 Bulletin U. S. Geological Surveys of the Territories, 2d series, v, 1875, p. 3.
88 LIFE HISTORIES OF NORTH AMERICAN BIRDS.
Compared with other. eggs of the Grouse family, they resemble far more
the eggs of Dendragapus an Lagopus. None of the markings run into each
cies, as is often the case in eges of the different species of Lagopus, and
they are not nearly so heavily spotted. As in all Grouse egos, these
markings are entirely superficial. The three perfect specimens in the U. S.
National Museum collection measure 43 by 30, 42.5 by 29, and 44 by 30
millimetres. Mr. Jackson’s specimens are a trifle larger, and measure 46 by
30.5, 44.5 by 30.5, 44 by 31, and 44 by 30.5 millimetres.
The type specimen, No. 17200 (PI. 2, Fig. 16), from an incomplete set,
was collected by Mr. A. D. Wilson, of the Hayden Geological Survey, on
July 15, 1875, in the San Juan Mountains, southern Colorado; the second (Pl.
2, Fig. 17), from a set of four, now in Mr. Thomas H. Jackson’s collection, and
indy loaned for figuring, was taken June 19, 1890, in Clear Creek County,
Colorado, by Mr. Evan Lewis.
32. Tympanuchus americanus (REIcHENBACH).
PRAIRIE HEN.
Cupidonia americanus REICHENBACH, Systema Avium, 1852, p. xxix; based on Vollst.
Naturg. Hiihnen., Pl. 217, Figs. 1896-1898.
Tympanuchus cupido americanus RipGway, Manuscript.
(B 464, © 384, R 477, C 563, U 305.)
GEOGRAPHICAL RANGE: Prairies of Mississippi Valley; south to Louisiana and
Texas; west to northern Indian Territory, middle Kansas, Nebraska, and eastern North
and South Dakota ; east to Kentucky, Indiana, northwestern Ohio, southeastern Michi-
gan, and southwestern Ontario, Canada; north to southern Manitoba.
The breeding range of the Pinnated Grouse or Prairie Hen extends over
the prairie country of the Mississippi Valley, from southeastern Texas and
Louisiana; north to Manitoba to about latitude 50°, vicinity of Winnipeg;
east to western Ontario, Canada, southeastern Michigan (Monroe County), and
northwestern Ohio, where they are rare now—a foe still exist in Kentucky;
west, they range to eastern North and South Dakota, throughout Nebraska,
eastern and central Kansas, and the northern portion of the indian Territory ;
south, at least to Fort Reno. They are not uncommon in suitable localities
in northwestern Indiana, central Hlinois, Missouri, and Wisconsin, and very
abundant in Iowa, Minnesota, eastern Kansas, Nebraska, and the eastern por-
tion of the two Dakotas. The range of this species is rapidly contracting
along its eastern border, and equally rapidly extending both north and west-
ward, where it is following the settlements. It is partly migratory in the
northern portions, and resident from the central portions of its range south.
Mr. W. W. Cooke writes on this subject as follows: ‘The Prairie Chicken is
commonly said to be a resident bird, and so it is in the larger part of its range,
but in Iowa a regular though local migration takes place. This has been men-
THE PRAIRIE HEN. 89
tioned by former writers, and in the spring of 1884 a special study was made
of the matter. Many observers unite in testifying to the facts in the case, and
what is still more important, there is not a dissenting voice. One of the
observers does not exaggerate when he says: ‘Prairie Chickens migrate as
regularly as a Canada Goose.’ Summing up all the information received, the
facts of the case are as follows: In November and December large flocks of
Prairie Chickens come from northern Lowa and southern Minnesota to settle for
the winter in northern Missouri and southern Iowa. This migration varies in
bulk with the severity of the winter. During an early cold snap immense
flocks come from the northern prairies to southern Iowa, while in mild, open
winters the migration is much less pronounced. During a cold wet spring the
northward movement in March and April is largely arrested on the arrival of
the flocks in northern Iowa, but an early spring, with fair weather, finds them
abundant in the southern tier of counties in Minnesota, and many flocks pass
still further north. The most remarkable feature of this movement is found in
the sex of the migrants. It is the females that migrate, leaving the males to
brave the winter’s cold. Mr. Miller, of Heron Lake, Minnesota, fairly states the
case when he says: ‘The females in this latitude migrate south in the fall and
come back in the spring, about one or two days after the first Ducks; and they
keep coming in flocks of from ten to thirty for about three days, all flying
north. The Grouse that stay all winter are males.”?
The mating season begins early, about the beginning of March, and the
packs sometimes commence to break up while the ground is still covered with
snow.
Judge John Dean Caton describes the love-making of the male Pinnated
Grouse as follows: “The spring of the year is the season of courtship with
them, and it does not last all the year round as it does with humans, and
they do it in rather a loud way, too; and instead of taking the evening, as
many people are inclined to do, they choose the early morning. Early in
the morning you may see them assemble in parties, from a dozen to fifty
together, on some high dry knolls, where the grass is short, and their goings
on would make you laugh. The cock birds have a loose patch of naked
yellow skin on each side of the neck just below the head, and above these
on either side, just where the head joins the neck, are a few long black
feathers, which ordinarily lay backward on the neck, but which, when excited,
they can pitch straight forward. Those yellow naked patches on either side
of the neck cover sacs which they can blow up like a bladder whenever
they choose. These are their ornaments, which they display to the best
advantage before the gentler sex at these love feasts. This they do by blow-
ing up these air sacs till they look like two ripe oranges, on each side of
the neck, projecting their long black ears right forward, ruffling up all the
feathers of the body till they stand out straight, and dropping their wings
to the ground like a Turkey cock. Now they look just lovely, as the coy
1 Bulletin 1, Dept. of Agriculture, Report on Bird Migration in the Mississippi Valley, 1888, p. 105.
90 LIFE HISTORIES OF NORTH AMERICAN BIRDS.
timid maidens seem to say, as they cast side glances at them, full of admira-
tion and of love.
“Then it is that the proud cock, in order to complete his triumph, will rush
forward at his best speed for two or three rods through the midst of the love-
sick damsels, pouring out as he goes a booming noise, almost a hoarse roar,
only more subdued, which may be heard for at least 2 miles in the still morn-
ing air. ‘This heavy booming sound is by no means harsh or unpleasant; on
the contrary, it is soft and even harmonious. When stauding in the open prairie
at early dawn listening to hundreds of different voices, pitched on differ-
ent keys, coming from every direction and from various distances, the listener
is rather soothed than excited. If this sound is heavier than the deep key
notes of a large organ, it is much softer, though vastly more powerful, and
may be heard at a much greater distance. One who has heard such a concert
can never after mistake or forget it.
““Kivery few minutes this display is repeated. I have seen not only one,
but more than twenty cocks going through this funny operation at once, but
then they seem careful not to run against each other, for they have not yet got
to the fighting point. After a little while the lady birds begin to show an
interest in the proceedings by moving about quickly a few yards at a time,
and then standing still a short time. When these actions are continued by a
large number of birds at a time, it presents a funny sight, and you can easily
think they are moving to the measure of music.
“The party breaks up when the sun is half an hour high, to be repeated
the next morning and every morning for a week or two before all make satis-
factory matches. It is toward the latter part of the love season that the
fighting takes place among the cocks, probably by two who have fallen in
love with the same sweetheart, whose modesty prevents her from selecting
between them.”?
Nesting follows quickly after the birds are once paired, but-as a rule they
seem to show very poor judgment in the selection of the sites. Immense
numbers of nests are annually destroyed, either by fire in dry seasons or water
during wet ones, not taking the many other enemies into consideration at all,
and it is safe to compute the loss of eggs alone, from the first two mentioned
causes, at 50 per cent. Many nests with eggs are also yearly plowed up.
On the prairies they generally select unburnt places to nest in, where the
old grass is thick; others prefer the borders of large marshes, where, during a
wet season, they are almost certain to be destroyed by water. The nest is
simply a slight excavation, alongside of some slough, in a fence corner among
tall grass or a clump of weeds, or in cultivated fields or meadows, and again on
open prairies, where the grass is very short. If there is plenty of material at
hand the nest is often quite thickly lined, but on burned prairie very little
lining is used, as no effort is made by the hen to bring material from a distance.
Apparently no particular attempt is made to conceal the nest; the bird sits so
1 Forest and Stream, March 29, 1883, p. 165.
THE PRAIRIE HEN. 91
close and harmonizes so well with the surroundings that she often escapes
observation when in plain view.
Asst. Surg. J. C. Merrill, U. 8. Army, found a nest of the Prairie Hen
about half a mile from Fort Reno, Indian Territory, on May 20, 1890, which
he describes as follows: “The nest was placed in a tussock of tall prairie grass
growing on sloping ground on the open prairie. It was composed of dried
grass blades, well matted together, and a few feathers from the parent. The
nest was open on the northeast side of the tussock, and directly opposite was a
narrow opening, or rather a tunnel, through the grass. On the two occasions
upon which the bird was flushed from the nest she sat with her head toward
this tunnel, through which she left the nest and skulked off. The eges, four-
teen in number, were found in one layer, and arranged without system, the
smaller ends pointing in all directions. Incubation was far advanced.”
This set and the female thereof are now in the U.S. National Museum
collection.
Laying begins in the southern portions of its range sometimes as early
as the latter part of March, and further north fully a month to six weeks
later. Next to the Bob White I consider the Pinnated Grouse one of the
most prolific of our game birds, laying from eleven to fourteen eges on an
average to a set; sets of twenty and more eggs have been repeatedly found
and are not especially rare. Mr. Horace A. Kline, of Vesta, Johnson County,
Nebraska, reports in the Ornithologist and Odlogist (August, 1882, p. 150),
“that during this year he had seen two nests containing twenty-one eggs
each,” and gives the average of a large number examined as fourteen. He
also states that ‘‘one of the most destructive agents to the nests of these valu-
able birds is the prairie fire. Many of the stockmen do not burn their hay
ground until the middle of May, and so thousands of eggs are destroyed
every year. In passing over one of these burned fields I counted five nests
containing seventy-eight eggs on about one acre of ground.”
Now and then a nest of this species is found above ground. Probably the
bird had lost her first brood and learned wisdom from her former experience.
Mr. P. H. Smith, jr., writes me that he found a nest of this species near
Greenville, Bond County, Illinois, containing five eggs, on the top of an old
hay-stack, 6 feet from the ground. ;
Mr. J. W. Preston, of Baxter, Iowa, informs me that a number of years
ago he frightened a Prairie Hen from her nest of eggs in a marsh that was sub-
ject to overflow; the nest was entirely submerged and the bird was incubating
the cold eggs. Not eight feet distant, on a tussock, a Marsh Harrier was
caring for her clutch of eggs. Strange neighbors!
As a rule but one brood is raised in a season, but occasionally nests with
fresh eggs are found in July and even in August, which seems to indicate
that now and then a second brood may be reared; if this is actually the
case, it is exceptional, unless the first eggs have been destroyed.
92 LIFE HISTORIES OF NORTH AMERICAN BIRDS.
Incubation lasts from three to four weeks. The male does not assist in
this duty, but keeps to himself. The young leave the nest as soon as hatched,
and are cared for by the female alone. heir food at first consists almost, if
not entirely, of insects, and when grasshoppers are plenty, as they frequently
are in the northern parts of their breeding range, they subsist almost exclu-
sively on them. Later they frequent the grain fields and feed on the different
cereals as well as other small seeds and berries. The female is much devoted
to her young, and will act similarly to the Ruffed Grouse in trying to attract
the attention of the intruder to herself and away from the chicks, which hide
quickly in the grass at the first intimation of danger which the parent may
give.
By the latter part of August most of the broods are well grown and able
to care for themselves. Two or three coveys pack together then, and later in
the fall packs numbering fully five hundred and more may be seen where these
birds are common.
The eggs of the Prairie Hen, as previously stated, number on an average
from eleven to fourteen to a set,.and if the first clutch is destroyed, which is
unfortunately too often the case, a second and smaller set is laid. The color of
the eggs varies from pale cream to vinaceous and olive buff, as well as light
brown and clay color. Scarcely two sets are alike in this respect.
The majority of the eggs of this species in the U. S. National Museum
collection, are faintly but regularly spotted with fine pin points of reddish
brown, in some instances scarcely perceptible to the naked eye. In a few sets
in the series the markings show plainly, but none are larger than a No. 6 shot,
and but few that size. The spots are pretty regular in size, and well defined,
even when very small.
The eggs are ovate; a few short-ovate in shape. The average size is 43
by 32.5 millimetres. The largest egg in one hundred and two specimens meas-
ures 46 by 34, the smallest 40 by 30 millimetres. A runt egg of this species
in the collection measures but 18 by 15 millimetres.
The type specimen (No. 3103), from a set of eleven eggs (Pl. 2, Fig. 18),
was collected by J. W. Tolman, near Winnebago, Illinois, May, 1860. No.
14517, from a set of sixteen eges (Pl. 2, Fig. 19), was collected by G. and C.
Blackburn, in Buchanan County, Iowa, May 22, 1868. This is the heaviest
marked set in the series. No. 21102, from a set of eleven (Pl. 2, Fig. 20),
collected for myself by Capt. B. F. Goss, Pewaukee, Wisconsin, May 20, 1876,
is one of the darkest sets in the series.
“a ;
a
,
4
:
THE HEATH HEN. 93
33. Tympanuchus cupido (Linyavs).
HEATH HEN.
Tetrao cupido LINN&ZUS, Systema Naturee, ed. 10, 1, 1758, 160.
Tympanuchus cupido Ripeway, Proceedings U. S. National Museum, vit, 1885, 355.
(B 464, part; C 384, part; R 477, part; C 563, part; U 306.)
GEOGRAPHICAL RANGE: Island of Martha’s Vineyard, Massachusetts.
The breeding range of the Heath Hen is, at present, limited to the island
of Martha’s Vineyard, Massachusetts, where these birds are strictly protected.
Mr. William Brewster says: ‘They were formerly found at various points
in eastern Massachusetts, southern Connecticut, Long Island, New Jersey, and
Pennsylvania; perhaps also southern New England, and the Middle States
generally. A woodland species, inhabiting scrubby tracts of oak and_ pine.
* * * The general differences between this bird and its Western represent-
ative, T. americanus, are difficult of adequate definition, for the reason that they
consist largely in shades of color rather than in markings. Its small size, short
tarsus, acutely lance-pointed feathers of the neck-tufts, white-tipped scapulars,
general reddish coloration above and restricted light markings beneath, are,
however, readily appreciable and apparently constant characters. * * *
“The Heath Hen (1 use the vernacular name by which it was known to
our forefathers) is still common on Martha’s Vineyard, where it is mainly, if not
exclusively, confined to the woods, haunting oak scrub by preference and feed-
ing largely on acorns. Being strictly protected by law, but few are probably
killed. Iam told by one of the Boston marketmen, however, that he has had
as many as twenty from the Vineyard in a single season. _ He also says that
they average nearly a pound less in weight than Western specimens, and on
this account do not sell as readily.
_ “The bird is not found on the neighboring island of Naushon, despite
statements by recent writers to that effect, nor is there any good evidence
that it ever occurred there. There is also no reason to believe that the
stock on Martha’s Vineyard has been vitiated by the introduction of West-
ern birds. It is simply the last remnant of a once more or less widely
distributed race, preserved in this limited area partly by accident, partly
by care. According to the best testimony available the colony is in no
present danger of extinction.”
From a more recent article on this species published by Mr. Brewster,
based on information gathered by him during a visit to Martha’s Vineyard
in July, 1890, I extract the following: “Throughout Martha’s Vineyard the
Heath Hen (locally pronounced héth’n, as this Grouse is universally called)
is well known to almost every one. Even in such seaport towns as Cottage
City and Edgartown most of the people have at least heard of it, and in
‘Auk, Vol. 11, 1885, pp. 82-84.
94 LIFE HISTORIES OF NORTH AMERICAN BIRDS.
the thinly settled interior it is frequently seen in the roads or along the
edges of the cover by the farmers, or started in the depths of the woods by
the hounds of the rabbit and fox hunters.
“Its range extends, practically, over the entire wooded’ portion of the
island, but the bird is not found regularly or at all numerously outside an
area of about 40 square miles. This area comprises most of the elevated
central portions of the island, although it also touches the sea at not a few
points on the north and south shores. In places it rolls into great rounded
hills and long irregular ridges, over which are scattered stretches of second-
growth woods, often miles in extent, and composed chiefly of scarlet, black,
white, and post oaks from 15 to 40 feet in height. Here and there, where
the valleys spread out broad and level, are fields which were cleared by the
early settlers more than a hundred years ago, and which still retain sufficient
fertility to yield very good crops of English hay, corn, potatoes, and other
vegetables. Again, this undulating surface gives way to wide, level, sandy
plains, covered with a growth of bear, chinquapin, and post-oak scrub, from
knee to waist high, so stiff and: matted as to be almost impenetrable; or to
rocky pastures, dotted with thickets of sweet fern, bayberry, huckleberry,
dwarf sumac, and other low-growing shrubs. =
“Clear, rapid trout brooks wind their y way to the sea through open
ineadows, or long narrow swamps wooded with red maples, black alders,
high huckleberry ‘pedes andromeda, and poison dogwood, and overrun with
tangled skeins of green briars.
“At all seasons the Heath Hens live almost exclusively in the oak woods,
where the acorns furnish them abundant food, although, like our Ruffed
Grouse, they occasionally at early morning and just after sunset venture out
a little way in thesopen to pick up scattered grains of corn or to pluck a few
clover leaves, of which they are extremely fond. They also wander to some
extent over the scrub-oak plains, especially when blueberries are ripe and
abundant. In winter, during long-continued snows, they sometimes approach
buildings, to feed upon the grain which the farmers throw out to them. A
man living near West Tisbury told me that last winter a flock visited his
barn at about the same hour each day. One cold snowy morning he counted
sixteen perched in a row on the top rail of a fence near the barnyard. It is
unusual to see so many together now, the number in a covey rarely exceeding
six or eight, but in former times packs containing from one to two hundred
birds each were occasionally met with late in the autumn.
“Only one person of the many whom I questioned on the subject had
ever seen a Heath Hen’s nest. It was in oak woods, among sprouts at the base
of a large stump, and contained either twelve or thirteen eggs. The date, he
thought, was about June 10. This seemed late, but I have a set of six eggs
taken on the Vineyard July 24, 1885, and on July 19, 1890, I met a blueberry
picker who only the day before had started a brood of six young, less than
half grown. These facts prove that this bird is habitually a late breeder.
THE HEATH HEN. 95
“The farmers about Tisbury say that in spring the male Heath Hen makes
a booming or tooting noise. This, according to their descriptions must resem-
ble the love notes of the Western Pinnated Grouse. About sunrise, on warm
still mornings in May, several birds may be sometimes heard at once, appar-
ently answering one another.
“During my stay at Martha’s Vineyard, I obtained as many estimates as
possible of the number of Heath Hens which are believed to exist there at the
present time. My most trustworthy informants were, creditably, averse to
‘what was apparently mere idle guessing; but when I questioned them, first as
to the extent of the region over which the birds ranged, and next as to how
many on the average could be found in a square mile within this region, they
answered readily enough, and even with some positiveness. As already stated,
the total present range of the Heath Hen covers about 40 square miles. The
estimates of the average number of birds per mile varied from three to five,
giving from one hundred and twenty to two hundred birds for the total num-
ber. These estimates, it should be stated, relate to the number of birds
believed to have been left over from last winter. If these breed freely and
at all successfully, there should be a total of fully five hundred, young and
old together, at the beginning of the present autumn. When one considers
the limited area to which these birds are confined, it is evident that within -this
area they must be reasonably abundant. I was assured that with the aid
of a good dog it was not at all difficult to start twenty-five or thirty in a day,
and on one occasion eight were killed by two guns. This, however, can be
done only by those familiar with the country and the habits of the birds.”!
The only eggs of the Heath Hen in any collection, as far as known to
me, are the set of six referred to above in Mr. Brewster’s article, and now
in his cabinet. These were taken July 24, 1885, at Martha’s Vineyard,
Massachusetts, and brought unblown to C. J. Maynard, from whom they were
procured. They contained large embryos, and were saved with considerable
difficulty.
The specimen figured (No. 23945, U. 8. National Museum : collection,
Pl. 3, Fig. 2) is one of these eggs. It is creamy buff in color, with a slight
ereenish tint, ovate in form, and unspotted. It measures 44 by 33 millimetres.
1¥Forest and Stream, September 25, 1890.
96 LIFE HISTORIES OF NORTH AMERICAN BIRDS.
34. Tympanuchus pallidicinctus (Ripeway).
LESSER PRAIRIE HEN.
Cupidonia cwpido var. pallidicincta RipGway, Bulletin Essex Institute, v, December,
1873, 199.
Tympanuchus pallidicinctus Ripaway, Proceedings U. 8. National Museum, v1il,
1885, 355.
(B —, C 384a, R 477a, C 564, U 307.)
GEOGRAPHICAL RANGE: Southwestern parts of Kansas and western Indian Terri-
I
tory, western (and southern ?) Texas.
The breeding range of the Lesser Prairie Hen, a smaller, paler-colored
species than 7. americanus, is not as well known as could be desired, and as
far as our present knowledge goes includes southwestern Kansas, the west-
ern parts of Indian Territory as well as portions of northwestern and
perhaps southern Texas. The latter locality is based on the statement of
Asst. Surg. James C. Merrill, U. 8. Army, who says, in his Notes on the
Ornithology of Southern Texas (pp. 159, 160): “I am informed by a person
perfectly familiar with the bird that the Prairie Chicken is occasionally seen
on the prairies of Miradores ranch, which is about 30 miles north of the
fort (referring to Fort Brown, Texas), and a few miles from the coast. This
is probably about the southernmost point in the range of this bird.” This
statement is further confirmed by Lieut. Col. Lawrence 8. Babbitt, U. S.
Ordnance Corps, who writes me under date of March 18, 1890, as follows:
“The Prairie Hen is not found in the immediate vicinity of San Antonio,
Texas, but exists in great numbers south and southeast and in limited num-
bers north and west from here, all at about an average distance of 100
miles from the above mentioned locality.”
It is possible, however, that this species may only be a winter resident
in southern Texas. Mr. William Lloyd, in his Notes on the Birds of West-
ern Texas, states: ‘ Tympanuchus pallidicinctus. Lesser Prairie Hen. Winter
visitor; seen in October and November in Concho County and also in win-
ter on Middle Concho in Tom Green County. Abundant near Colorado City
on the Texas and Pacific Railroad. I believe this record extends the range
to the southwest. Westward it was abundant to the foothills of the Davis
Mountains. Said te have been driven from the Pan Handle counties by the
numerous prairie fires.”?
The nesting habits of this species are undoubtedly similar in every respect
to those of Tympanuchus americanus. Mr. C.S. McCarthy found it breeding
abundantly 40 miles west of Fort Cobb, in the Indian Territory, he taking
not less than three nests with eggs on June 1, 1860. Presumably but one
brood is raised ina season. The number of eggs to a set is probably about
the same as that of the previously mentioned species. The three sets in the
v
‘Auk, Vol. tv, 1887, p. 187.
ALLELE
Sl a
THE LESSER PRAIRIE HEN. 97
U.S. National Museum collection, contain seven eggs each, and are probably
incomplete. They are somewhat lighter colored than the eggs of the common
Prairie Hen and almost unmarked, but this is perhaps not constant. Their
shape is ovate.
The ground color varies from pale creamy white to buff. The markings,
which are all very fine, not larger than pin-points, are lavender colored. More
than two-thirds of the eggs are unspotted, and all look so till closely examined.
In size they average a trifle smaller than the eggs of the Prairie Hen. The
mean measurement of twenty-two specimens in the U. 8. National Museum
collection is 42 by 32.5 millimetres. The largest egg measures 43.5 by 33.5,
the smallest 41 by 31 millimetres.
The type specimen, No. 4011 (Pl. 3, Fig. 1), was obtained June 1, 1860, 40
miles west of Fort Cobb, Indian Territory, by C. 8. McCarthy. This set con-
tained seven eggs.
35. Pediocztes phasianellus (Linnzus).
SHARP-TAILED GROUSE.
Tetrao phasianellus LINN US, Systema Nature, ed. 10, I, 1758, 160.
Pediocetes phasianellus Etutiot, Proceedings Academy Natural Sciences, Phila.,
1862, 403 (nec BAIRD, 1858, qui subsp. colwmbianus).
(B —, C 383, R 478, C 561, U 308.)
GEOGRAPHICAL RANGE: Interior of British America, east of Rocky Mountains,
about James Bay (Moose Factory), and the western shore of Hudson Bay, northern
Manitoba ; north at least to Fort Simpson, Mackenzie River, Northwest Territory.
The breeding range of the Sharp-tailed Grouse extends from about lati-
tude 52° north, and westward through British America to the eastern slopes of
the Rocky Mountains, as far north as latitude 69°, and probably still farther
within the Arctic circle. Mr. C. P. Gaudet, of the Hudson Bay Company,
found it breeding in latitude 68°, near Fort Good Hope, in the Mackenzie
River Basin. Its northeastern range is not well defined, but it probably reaches
the northern shores of Hudson Bay, and breeds possibly as far south as Moose
Factory, James Bay, about latitude 51°, 40’. It seems to be especially
abundant in the vicinity of Great Slave Lake, between latitude 61° and 63°;
most of the eggs in the U. 8. National Museum collection coming either from
Forts Rae, Providence, or Resolution, all three posts situated on different parts
of this lake.
Comparatively little-is as yet known about the breeding habits of this
subspecies. There is no reason to suppose, however, that they differ mate-
rially from those of its more southern relatives, which will be fully described.
The Sharp-tailed Grouse is said to inhabit the wooded districts of the fur
countries, as well as the borders of the extensive prairies or tundras near the
numerous lakes found throughout that region, and it is probably more or less
migratory in the winter.
26957—Bull. 1——7
98 LIFE HISTORIES OF NORTH AMERICAN BIRDS.
But a single brood is raised in a season. Nidification begins, sometimes at
least, extremely early with this species, eggs having been found May 1, 1863,
by Mr. L. Clarke, of the Hudson Bay Company, at Fort Rae, in latitude 63°.
These must have been laid long before the ice and snow disappeared from the
surrounding country. Mr. R. MacFarlane also took a nest containing nine eggs,
on May 15, 1884, near Fort Providence. According to this gentleman, the
Sharp-tailed Grouse breeds also in the pine forests on both sides of the Lock-
hart and Upper Anderson Rivers, where one or two nests were taken, but
the eges were afterward lost.
The number of eggs to a set varies from seven to fourteen, and their
ground color from a fawn color with a vinaceous rufous bloom, to chocolate,
tawny, and olive brown in different specimens. The majority of the eggs are
finely marked with small, well-defined spots of reddish brown and lavender,
resembling the markings found on the eggs of Tympanuchus americanus, only
they are much more distinct. Compared with the eggs of the two south-
ern subspecies P. phasianellus columbianus and P. phasianellus campestris, they
usually are very much darker colored, even the palest specimens being
darker than the heaviest marked eges of either of the two subspecies. These
markings are entirely superficial, and when removed leave the shell a creamy
white in some eases and a very pale green in others. In shape they are
usually ovate. The average measurement of thirty-four eggs in the U. 8.
National Museum collection is 44.5 by 82 millimetres. The largest ege of
this series measures 48 by 33, the smallest 42 by 30 millimetres.
Of the type specimens selected to show the variations, No. 7619 (PI. 3,
Fig. 3), from an incomplete set of seven, was obtained May 10, 1863, near
Fort Rae, Great Slave Lake, by Mr. L. Clarke, jr., of the Hudson Bay Com-
pany; No. 7620 (PL 3, Fig. 4), from an incomplete set of six, taken June 1,
1863, by the same gentleman, in the same locality; and No. 22503 (Pl. 3,
Fig. 5), a single egg, taken May 16, 1885, near Fort Providence, Great
Slave Lake, was obtained from Mr. R. MacFarlane, also of the Hudson Bay
Company.
36. Pediocetes phasianellus columbianus (Orp).
COLUMBIAN SHARP-TAILED GROUSE.
Phasianus columbianus Orp, Guthrie’s Geography, 2d Am. ed., 1, 1815, 317.
Pedicecetes phasianellus var. columbianus Cougs, Key to North American Birds, 1872,
234.
(B 463, C 383a, R 478a, C 562, U 308a.)
GEOGRAPHICAL RANGE: Northwestern United States; south to northeastern Cali-
fornia, northern Nevada, and Utah; east to Montana and Wyoming; west to Oregon
and Washington ; north, chiefly west of Rocky Mountains, through British Columbia, to
central Alaska (Fort Yukon).
The Columbian Sharp-tailed Grouse inhabits the grass-covered plains of
the Northwest. Its breeding range extends from eastern Montana and Wyo-
ming, westward through northern and central Utah, the whole of Idaho, eastern
Se
THE COLUMBIAN SHARP-TAILED GROUSE. 99
and central Oregon and Washington, south to northern Nevada and northeast-
ern California, along the eastern slopes of the Siskiyou Mountains. The latter,
as well as the eastern spurs of the Cascades, forms a barrier to its westward
extension in Oregon and Washington, and it is here, at Fort Klamath, Oregon,
that this bird reaches the most westerly point of its range. North it is found
throughout eastern British Columbia, on both sides of the Rocky Mountains,
and it has been taken as far north as Fort Yukon, Alaska.
The habits of the Columbian Sharp-tailed Grouse, also known as _ the
Spike-tail and the Prairie Chicken, are very similar to those of its eastern rela-
tive, P. phasianellus campestris. It is one of the most abundant and best known
game birds of the Northwest, inhabiting the prairie country to be found along
the foothills of the numerous mountain chains intersecting its range; seldom
venturing into the wooded portions for any distance, and then only during the
winter months, when it is partially migratory in certain sections.
According to my own experience the Columbian Sharp-tail breeds more
frequently on the sheltered and sunny slopes of the grass-covered foothills
of the mountains than in the lower valleys and creek bottoms. At Fort
Lapwai, Idaho, this Grouse was exceedingly common about twenty years
ago, but it is much less so now. It then gathered into large packs during
the late fall and winter, frequently numbering two hundred and more. These
kept together until about the beginning of March, when they commenced
to break up. The “dancing” indulged in during the mating season, and which
will be fully described in the succeeding article, began at Fort Lapwai (the
only place where I had the opportunity of witnessing it) usually between the
Ist and 10th of March, and by the end of that month most of the birds were
paired and had selected their nesting sites. Nidification began usually from
about April 15, to May 1, according to the season. I found a set of fifteen eges,
which had been sat upon about a week or ten days, on April 22, 1871.
Some birds must have laid earlier still, as it was no uncommon sight to find
fully grown birds by July 10. All the nests of this species which I examined
were invariably well concealed and rather difficult to find. You might
search daily for a couple of weeks and be unsuccessful in finding a nest,
and again you might stumble on two or three on the same day. --
THE FLAMMULATED SCREECH OWL. 375
site, a Woodpecker’s hole in a dead aspen, was about 10 feet from the ground
and the burrow about 10 inches deep. It contained three fresh eggs. The
female, which was in the hole, had to be removed by force, and in doing so
one of the eggs was broken; they were lying on a few chips and feathers from
the bird.
“On June 4, I found a second nest about a mile from the former site and
in a similar situation, a ravine near water. This ¢ontained two fresh eggs and
an ege of a Flicker (Colaptes cafer). 'They were placed in a Woodpecker’s hole
in a large aspen, about 8 feet from the ground and 10 inches below the aper-
ture, while about 6 feet above this was a nest of young Flickers. The cavity
appeared to have been formerly used by a squirrel and the eggs were deposited
on the old nesting material. It also contained a few Flicker’s feathers. The
female clung tenaciously to her eggs.
“On June 20, I found the third nest, but this time at a considerably
less altitude, probably at about 8,000 feet. It was in a pine tree in a Wood-
pecker’s hole about 14 feet from the ground, and contained four partly
incubated eggs. On rapping on the tree the old bird flew out and perched
on a limb close by while I investigated the nest. This consisted of a few
feathers in the bottom of the burrow, which was about 10 inches deep. The
bird’s stomach contained the remnants of some small mammal. In none of
these cases did I see the males, although my son and I searched around the
vicinity of each nest thoroughly. I believe these birds are strictly nocturnal,
and consequently rarely seen.”
This set, with the female parent shot at the same time and purchased,
is now in the U. 8S. National Museum collection. The four eggs measure,
respectively, 29.5 by 25, 29 by 25.5, 28 by 25.5, and 28 by 25 millimetres.
Mr. Evan Lewis found a set of three eggs of this species on June 7,
1890, near Idaho Springs, Clear Creek County, Colorado. The nesting site
was a Woodpecker’s hole in a dead spruce tree about 15 feet from the ground,
the eggs lying on a few feathers. Elevation about 8,700 feet. These eggs
are now in the collection of Mr. Thomas H. Jackson, West Chester, Pennsy]-
vania.
From what we know of the habits of the Flammulated Owl they seem
to vary but little from the other races of the Screech Owl family. They
are apparently strictly nocturnal, and their food consists of the smaller
mammals, as well as beetles and other insects. The stomach of a spec-
imen killed by Dr. C. Hart Merriam in the Grand Canon of the Colorado,
September 13, 1890, contained a scorpion, some beetles, and other insects.
Three or four eggs are laid to a set, and in the southern Rocky Moun-
tain region in Colorado, the only locality where it has as yet been found
nesting, nidification begins either late in May or the first week in June,
but probably considerably earlier at less altitudes elsewhere in its range.
376 LIFE HISTORIES OF NORTH AMERICAN BIRDS.
The eggs of the Flammulated Screech Owl are white, with a faint creamy
tint, and oval in shape. The shell is strong, finely granulated, and slightly
glossy. The average measurement of the five eggs in the U. 8S. National
Museum collection is 28.6 by 25 millimetres.
The type specimen, No. 17199, figured on Pl. 12, Fig. 15, was taken by
Mr. Charles A. Aiken, in Wet Mountain Valley, Fremont County, Colorado,
June 15, 1875. ;
132. -Megascops flammeolus idahoensis, Merriam.
DWARF SCREECH OWL.
Megascops flammeolus idahoensis MERRIAM, in North American Fauna, No. 5, 1891,
p. 96.
(B—, C—, R—, C—, U 374a.)
GEOGRAPHICAL RANGE: Mountains of central Idaho.
The type of this new subspecies, an adult male, and as far as known the
smallest of our Screech Owls, was obtained in the Big Wood River Mountains,
near Ketchum, Alturas County, Idaho, on September 22, 1890, during a bio-
logical survey of that portion of the State, made under the direction of Dr. C.
Hart Merriam, in charge of the Division of Ornithology and Mammalogy, U. S.
Department of Agriculture. It was found among the straggling pine timber on
the hills bordering Big Wood River.
It is a slightly smalher bird than the Flammulated Screech Owl and much
lighter colored. The dark markings are much finer and the ashy gray tints
very pronounced. It probably inhabits the mountain regions of the interior of
northwestern North America and seems to attain a higher northern range than
the Flammulated Screech Owl.
Nothing is as yet known about its breeding habits and eggs, but these are
undoubtedly similar to those of the preceding subspecies.
133. Bubo virginianus (GmeE.in).
GREAT HORNED OWL.
Strix virginiana GMELIN, Systema Nature, 1, i, 1788, 287.
Bubo virginianus BONAPARTE, Geographical and Comparative List, 1838, 6.
(B 48, C, 317, R 405, C 462, U 375.)
GEOGRAPHICAL RANGE: Eastern North America; south through eastern Mexico
to Costa Rica.
The breeding range of the Great Horned Owl may be defined as follows:
It extends over eastern North America from Florida and the Gulf coast, north
into the southern portions of the Dominion of Canada to southern Labrador,
and thence westward, principally south of latitude 50° to eastern Manitoba.
In the United States the Great Plains form its western limit, including eastern
eC
THE GREAT HORNED OWL. 377
North and South Dakota, eastern Nebraska, eastern and central Kansas, the
same parts of the Indian Territory, and the more heavily wooded districts of
eastern and central Texas.
The Great Horned Owl, also known as the Cat and Hoot Owl, is the
most powerful and destructive bird of this family found within the United
States. Although apparently smaller than the Great Gray and Snowy Owls,
it is really considerably larger in body than either and correspondingly
stronger.
Excepting possibly in the extreme northern portions of its range, it is a
constant resident wherever found, and, though mostly nocturnal in its habits,
it sees well enough in the daytime and hunts its prey occasionally on cloudy
days, especially when it has young to provide for.
Except during the mating and breeding season, it is an unsociable and
solitary bird, rarely allowing another of the same species in the vicinity of
its range, which is usually some heavily wooded tract near water. As is
the case with most Raptores the female is considerably larger than the male,
the latter being but a poor match for his spouse at any time, and I have little
doubt that he occasionally falls a victim to the churlish and cannibalistic pro-
pensities of his stronger mate, ewhich sometimes happens when pairs of these
birds are kept in captivity.
It is generally conceded that the Great Horned Owl is by far the most
destructive of all our Raptores, and, on the whole, commits more damage
than all the other species together. In this instance, at least, actual facts fully
bear out this universal supposition.
Dr. C. Hart Merriam states that one of these Owls has been known to
decapitate three Turkeys and several Chickens in a single night, leaving their
bodies uninjured and fit for the table.
Aside from its frequent depredations in the poultry yard, where it helps
itself to anything within reach, and often kills many more victims than it
actually requires, such as Turkeys, Geese, Guinea Fowl, Ducks, Chickens,
and Pigeons, and even entering coops after them, it is the worst and most
relentless enemy our game birds, such as the Wild Turkey, the Ruffed and
Pinnated Grouse, the Bob White, and Woodcock, have to contend against,
and wherever these valuable birds are still fairly common they furnish a con-
siderable portion of their daily food. Among the mammals, hares, rabbits,
squirrels, skunks, opossums, muskrats, and the smaller rodents help to fill
out their bill of fare, and if fish are procurable they show an equal fondness
for this sort of food.
Whenever provender is plenty they often content themselves with simply
eating the heads of their victims, rejecting the remainder, and thus wipe out
whole families of birds in a single night; their sight is so keen that few man-
age to escape. They are generally able to procure an abundance of food
even in the coldest weather, and it is the exception and not the rule to find
one of these Owls in poor condition at any time of the year.
1 Birds of Connecticut, 1877, p. 67.
378 LIFE HISTORIES OF NORTH AMERICAN BIRDS.
The mating season of the Great Horned Owl begins in midwinter when
the greater portion of the range it inhabits is still covered with snow and
ice. Mr. Lynds Jones, of Grinnell, Iowa, informs me: “I once had the good
fortune to steal unnoticed upon a pair of these birds in their love making.
The ceremony had evidently been in progress sometime. When discovered
the male was carefully approaching the female, which stood on a branch, and
she half turned away like a timid girl. He then fondly stroked his mate with
his bill, bowed solemnly, touched or rubbed her bill with his, bowed again,
sidled into a new position from time to time, and continued his caresses. All
these attentions were apparently bashfully received by the female. Soon there-
after the pair flew slowly away side by side. It is at this time that their hoot-
ings are frequently heard. The common eall which is most often uttered, and
I believe that of the male, is a far reaching ‘to-hoot-to-hoot-to-hooh,” while
the answering one of the female is shorter, and usually consists simply of an
“90,” or “ to-60.” Aside from these, they have several others, one a cat-like
squeal or cry like “waah-hu,” and again a series of yelps, similar to the barking
of a dog.
None of these calls can be said to be pleasing to the ear at any time,
and when suddenly awakened by them from @ restful slumber, perhaps while
camped in the silent and snow-covered woods on some hunting expedition,
they sound uncanny enough to startle even an old woodsman on first hearing
them. ‘These Owls are often attracted by the camp-fires of hunting parties, and
their flight is so easy and silent that the first notice one has of their presence
is their pertinent querry, ‘who-who-cooks-for-you” from a tree top perhaps
directly overhead, undoubtedly uttered as a protest against the invasion of
their own favorite hunting grounds.
In the eastern parts of its range, where the ax of the lumberman has
nearly succeeded in destroying all the primeval forests, and large hollow trees
are now comparatively scarce, the Great Horned Owl breeds at present mostly
in open nests, generally those of the larger Hawks, and occasionally that of
the common Crow, while in the heavily timbered bottom lands of the Ohio,
Missouri, and Mississippi Rivers, the majority of these birds still nest in natu-
ral cavities in trees.
Capt. B. F. Goss, of Pewaukee, Wisconsin, who is well qualified to speak
on this subject, writes me as follows: “I think the natural breeding place
of the Great Horned Owl is in hollow trees, and where suitable cavities can
be found they are always selected. In the early settlement of this part of
Wisconsin such breeding places were abundant, and I do not remember
finding a single pair of these birds nesting in any other location, but with
the rapid improvement of the country the large trees were mostly cut down,
until now hardly one remains, and these birds are now compelled to resort to
other places, and we find them making use of old Hawks’ nests.”
Prof. D. E. Lantz, of Manhattan, Kansas, informs me that of twelve
nests found by him in that vicinity, three were in old Red-tailed Hawks’
nests, one in an old Crow’s nest, and eight in hollow trees.
THE GREAT HORNED OWL. 379
Dr. William L. Ralph has kindly furnished me with the following infor-
mation on this species: ‘In the Indian River region of Florida, the Great
Horned Owl usually lives in the pine wood districts, breeding altogether in
these localities, and I have never known it to nest in other situations in any
part of this State that I am familiar with. At and in the vicinity of Mer-
ritt’s Island, where I visited for several winters, these birds were so common
that eight of their nests were found in one season while looking for those of
the Bald Eagle, but, like most Florida birds, they are gradually decreasing.
“In this region these Owls always deposit their eggs in the nests of
the Bald Eagle, and while I think that these are usually, if not always first
deserted by the original owners, the natives say that the Owls drive the
Eagles from and appropriate them for their own use. One of the reasons
why I think the nests taken by the Owls are deserted ones is because
nearly all those found occupied by these birds were situated rather near the
ground, and these are the ones the Eagles generally abandon first. These
nests are originally constructed of large sticks and limbs, lined with dead
grasses, palmetto leaves, flags, and weeds—usually with swamp grasses alone
—and after being taken by the Owls are always further thickly lined with
scales of pine bark, a material’ I have never found in any quantity in the
nests occupied by the Kagles. The amount of this bark in each nest seems
to be about the same, which would not likely be the case had it fallen into
the nests by chance, which may occasionally happen to a limited extent. In
addition to this bark there are always more or less feathers from the birds
in this second lining. Many birds of prey line their nests with leaves or bark
from resinous trees and they do this as a preventive remedy for parasites, with
which they are always more or less troubled. I have never heard or seen
this bird in the vicinity of San Mateo, Florida, and while they are common in
some parts of the State, they are entirely absent in other sections, although
apparently equally suitable.
“These birds become very much attached to certain localities and seldom
wander far from them, even in cases of extreme persecution. As a usual
thing they will, should their nest be disturbed, take another in the imme-
diate vicinity, and after a season or two return again to the first one; but
in this locality I have known one of these Owls to lay a third set of eggs
in the same nest from which the first two had been successively taken. In
Florida this species usually commences breeding in December. I have taken
eges about one-third incubated December 17, and found nearly fresh ones
January 5. These are the earliest and the latest dates of which I have any
personal records, and have never found more than two eggs in a nest, and
about 60 per cent. of the sets consisted of a single egg.
“The average measurement of a number of specimens taken by me in
Florida is 56.4 by 47.7 millimetres. One egg measured only 50.8 by 42.9
millimetres, and I am sure that it was from a first laying, as it was one of
the earliest taken. This egg was the only one in the nest, and partly incu-
380 LIFE HISTORIES OF NORTH AMERICAN BIRDS.
bated when found. Seven weeks afterward I took another from the same nest,
which was still smaller, but so nearly hatched that I did not try to preserve
it. The Owl to which these eggs belonged was one of the largest I have
ever seen, and believe that their small size was due to the very old age of
the bird. It is almost certain that the Great Horned Owl raises but one
brood in a season in Florida, where they feed almost entirely on waterfowl
and the smaller mammals, such as rabbits, squirrels, gophers, mice, etc. I
have never heard of their catching poultry in this region, and believe that
they do not.”
The Great. Horned Owls are early breeders, laying their eggs throughout
the greater part of their range in the beginning of February and occasionally
even in the latter part of January. There seems to be but little difference
in the time of oviposition between some of the more southern localities,
Florida excepted, and those considerably farther north, and it also appears that
climate has little influence in the matter. In some of the Western States,
like Illinois, Iowa, and Missouri, full sets of their eggs are not infrequently
found by February 1, while in the southern New England States it is not
unusual to find them in the second and third week of that month, mostly
however, about the beginning of March, and in New Brunswick, Nova Scotia,
and Newfoundland hes nest about the latter part of March or the beginning
of April. The country is usually still covered with snow and ice when nid-
ification begins, and their eggs are not infrequently frozen by the intense
cold prevailing at the time.
In Newfoundland, as well as occasionally in other places, the Great Horned
Owl, according to Mr. Henry Reeks, nests sometimes on the ground. In his
notes on the Oi Slory of Newfoundland,” in speaking of this species, he says:
“The only nest that came under my Ghseryanion was built on the ground on
a tussock of grass in the center of a pond. The same nest had been previ-
ee occupied for several years by a pair of Geese (Bernicla canadensis).”?
r. George E. Beyer, of New Orleans, Louisiana, also found a nest of this
species, containing three young, in a hollow pine log on the ground. It is a well
known fact that the Western Horned Owl resorts to somewhat similar locations
to nest, in regions where suitable trees are wanting. Mr. Audubon also says that
he has twice Hound the eggs of the Great Horned Owl in fissures of rocks, and
while such nesting sites are perhaps rare with the eastern bird they are by no
means uncommon with the Western Horned Owl. Col. N. 8. Goss, in his
“Birds of Kansas,” states that on the plains or treeless-portions of the State it
likewise nests in fissures of rocks. These birds are poor nest builders, and if
they do construct one of their own, it is through necessity and not from choice.
In the Eastern States the majority use open nests, generally those of the
Red-tailed and Red-shouldered Hawks, the Crows, and sometimes those of
the larger Herons, while farther west hollow trees, when procurable, are still,
to a considerable extent, resorted to. The trees most frequented by them for
' Zodlogist, 2d series, Iv, 1869, p. 1614.
ee ee, ee
ee ee
THE GREAT HORNED OWL. 381
purposes of nidification are elms, oaks, chestnuts, ash, maples, pines, spruces,
and cedars, and, in the more western parts of their range, sycamores and
cottonwood trees.
The height from the ground varies considerably, some being placed not
over 10, others fully 90 feet up, generally averaging from 25 to 40 feet.
Among peculiar nesting sites the following deserve mention:
Judge John N. Clark, of Saybrook, Connecticut, writes me that he found
a pair of these birds nesting in a quadruple fork of a large chestnut tree some
25 feet from the ground, the eggs lying on the bare wood, without any loose
material around them whatever, not even a single leaf. Mr. P. W. Smith, jr.,
found another pair occupying an old soap box which had originally been put
up for squirrels in a grove not over 100 yards froma house. The top of the
box had blown off and it was nearly filled with dry leaves. In this condition
the Owls had taken possession, and had evidently nested in it several years
before discovered by him.
Such scanty repairs as may be needed are made to the nest sometime
before nidification commences, and perhaps a little lining, consisting of strips of
bark and dry grasses, and as incubation advances many of the feathers of
the birds are added in the open nests, while if a hollow tree is used, nothing
whatever is done, the eggs being deposited on the rubbish, which may have
accumulated therein, such as bits of rotten wood, old leaves, and the feathers
dropped from the incubating bird.
An unusual cold and wet spell may freeze or spoil the first eggs laid, and
a second set is subsequently added, the former, in such case, are often pushed
down among the loose rubbish in the nest. This accounts for some of the
extra large sets that are sometimes found, which in reality are two sets, laid
at different times, one addled the other fertile.
From one to five eggs have been found to a set, but as a rule two or three
are all that are laid, the smaller number more frequently. In some sections,
however, sets of four eggs are not unusual. Mr. J. W. Preston, of Baxter,
Iowa, writes me that this number is found by him about once in three sets,
and that in the early part of March, 1875, he found a set of five eggs too
far advanced in incubation to disturb them, and which were all hatched later.
This unusually large set was found in an open nest in the top of a medium
sized black oak in heavy woods.
Capt. B. F. Goss writes me that he never found more than three eggs
in a set, and that two are far more common. He says: “I found two nests
with four young in each of them, both in hollow trees. In one the tree had
been bent over and broken off, leaving a horizontal hole in the end. Two
of the young were more than half grown and partly feathered, the remaining
two very small and still in the down. There seemed to be a month’s differ-
ence in their ages, but it occurred to me as being possible that the two large
ones got in front and took most of the food, and the other two were dwarfed
by starvation. In the second nest the young were of different sizes, the
382 LIFE HISTORIES OF NORTH AMERICAN BIRDS.
largest nearly full feathered, the smallest still in the down. This regular
difference can scarcely be accounted for by inequality of food, but seems to
indicate that the eggs were laid at intervals of about two weeks.”
I believe that where the Great Horned Owl nests in hollow trees the
number of eggs laid by them is usually apt to be larger than where an
open nest is used. The young are more secure in such a location and not
so likely to fall or be crowded out.
According to the observations of several careful collectors, incubation is
said to last only three weeks, but I believe that twenty-eight days comes
nearer to the actual time required. Positive assertions in such matters can-
not well be made, especially as it appears that the eggs are, sometimes at
least, laid at considerable intervals, and in such cases incubation begins with
the first one laid. Where sets do not exceed the usual number, two, incuba-
tion probably does not begin until the set is completed, and it is not likely
that ordinarily a longer interval than three days occurs between the laying
of the two eggs.
The Great Horned Owl will sometimes breed in confinement. Professor
Lantz, of Manhattan, Kansas, writes me: “A pair kept in a large roomy
cage, where they were seen and teased by many people, became very combat-
ive. In 1885 the female laid eggs as follows: One on January 14; this was
frozen because she would not sit on it. January 29 the nest contained two
more eggs, which were taken, and on February 25 two others. No more
were laid.”
They are not the kind of birds to make pets of. As a rule they are
ill tempered, no matter how well treated, and will attack their keeper with-
out any provocation, inflicting severe and sometimes dangerous wounds. One
of my correspondents, who raised one of these Owls from the nest and kept
it for three years, called it a “veritable feathered tiger,” but they do not
all deserve quite so bad a name.
I believe the female attends to the duties of incubation almost exclusively,
the male providing her with food.
The Great Horned Owl is certainly a diligent, as well as a successful
hunter, and an abundance of food is generally found in a nest with the young.
Captain Goss found in one nest several partly devoured rabbits and more than
a dozen rats, all without their heads, but otherwise untouched. A corre-_
spondent of Forest and Stream, in the number of May 4, 1882, writing from
Saratoga Springs, New York, under the nom de plume of “Hawkeye,” states
that in a nest he examined, containing two young Owls, he found the following
animals: ‘A mouse, a young muskrat, two eels, four bullheads, a Woodcock,
four Ruffed Grouse, one rabbit, and eleven rats. The food taken out of the
nest weighed almost 18 pounds. A curious fact connected with these captives
was that the heads were eaten off, the bodies being untouched.”
Where open nests are resorted to, these are not unfrequently used by two
different species in the same year, the Great Horned Owls being the first ten-
THE GREAT HORNED OWL. 383
ants, and as soon as their young have left it is taxen possession of by one of
the larger Hawks for the same purpose. Although at all other times unsocial,
during the season of reproduction the Great Horned Owls are generally
devoted and courageous in the defense of their young, caring for them long
after leaving the nest. Collectors have been known to be vigorously attacked
and even beaten off by them, and were quite willing to make a hasty retreat
in order to keep out of reach of their sharp and powerful talons.
he eggs of the Great Horned Owl, usually two or three in number, are
white in color, and show little or no gloss, though there are occasional excep-
tions; they are rounded oval in shape; the shell is thick and rather coarsely
granulated, feeling rough to the touch.
The average measurement of twenty-five specimens is 56 by 46.5 milli-
metres. The largest of these eggs measures 58.5 by 48.5, the smallest 51 by
44.5 millimetres.
The type specimen, No. 20629 (Pl. 12, Fig. 12), from a set of two, was
taken by Capt. B. F. Goss, near Pewaukee, Wisconsin, March 13, 1883.
134. Bubo virginianus subarcticus (Hoy).
WESTERN HORNED OWL.
Bubo subarcticus Hoy, Proceedings Academy Natural Sciences Phila., vi, 1852, 211.
Bubo virginianus 6 subarcticus Ripa@way, Ornithology of the 40th Par., 1877, 572.
(B 48, part; C 317a, part; R 405a, part; C 463, part; U 375a.)
GEOGRAPHICAL RANGE: Western United States (except northwest coast); east-
ward across the Great Plains, straggling to northern Illinois, Wisconsin, and western
Canada; north to Manitoba; south over the table-lands of Mexico (Lower California ?).
The breeding range of the Western Horned Owl, a lighter gray and
buff colored bird than the preceding subspecies, extends from the Mexican
table-lands, north through southwestern Texas, New Mexico, Arizona, Colo-
rado, western Kansas, western Nebraska, Utah, Wyoming, Montana, and
western South and North Dakota, as well as beyond our border into western
Manitoba, Assiniboia, and southern Alberta. On the Pacific coast it is found
from (Lower? and) southern California northward through all the intervening
States, on both sides of the Sierra Nevada, passing through British Columbia
to Alaska, along the Lower Yukon River and shores of Bering Sea, to about
latitude 65° N.
According to Mr. William Brewster, the Horned Owls found in Lower Cal-
ifornia are much smaller in size and darker colored than the Western Horned
Owl, resembling the Dusky Horned Owl somewhat in coloration, and they will
have to be separated as a new geographical race.
The Western Horned Owl is only found in the lower foothills and more
open country throughout the range indicated, while in the higher mountain
regions, it is replaced by the Dusky Horned Owl (Bubo virginianus saturatus).
384 LIFE HISTORIES OF NORTH AMERICAN BIRDS.
There is no perceptible difference in the general habits of the Western Horned
Owl from those of its eastern relatives. Their call notes are also similar;
and, like it, it is the most destructive and insatiable of all the Raptores found
in its range, feeding to a great extent on valuable game birds, especially
the Columbian and Prairie Sharp-tailed Grouse, wherever these are abundant,
as well as on Ducks, other waterfowl, and the smaller land birds. Among
mammals, hares, prairie dogs, polecats, marmots, the different species of tree
and ground squirrels, wood rats, and other rodents, contribute to its fare. In
the more settled regions poultry yards also suffer, as these Owls rapidly develop
a strong taste for such food.
In the choice of nesting sites the Western Horned Owl shows a wider
range, however, than the preceding. While perhaps the majority of these
birds resort likewise to hollow trees or old nests of the larger Hawks and of
the common Crow, quite a number nest in the wind-worn holes in sandstone
and other cliffs, small caves in clay and chalk bluffs, in some localities on
the ground, and, I believe, even occasionally in badger holes under ground.
On the grassy plains in the vicinity of the Umatilla Indian Reservation, in
northeastern Oregon, I have several times seen Owls of this race sitting on
the little mounds in front of badger or coyote burrows, near the mouths
of which small bones and pellets of fur, were scattered about. While unable
to assert positively that they do actually breed occasionally in such holes,
the indications point that way, and this would not seem to be due to the
absence of suitable timber, as an abundance of large trees grow along the
banks of the Umatilla River not more than a mile away. When nesting in
trees, large cottonwoods, sycamores, willows, pecans, pines, oaks, and firs, are
generally preferred. In regions, however, where heavy timber is scarce they
content themselves with nests in small mesquite and hackberry trees, frequently
placed not over 10 feet from the ground. In Lower California(?) and southern
Arizona they also nest occasionally in the sahuara, the giant cactus, so common
in those regions. In Colorado, Wyoming, and Idaho, they are known to make
use of old Black-billed Magpies’ nests, laying their eggs occasionally inside,
but more often on the broken down roof of these bulky structures. In the
neighborhood of Nueces Bay, in southwestern Texas, they nest in holes in
high banks, and in portions of California similar situations are occupied.
Mr. Charles A. Allen, of Nieasio, California, writes me as follows: ‘On the
seacoast near Point Reyes I have found their nests on the ground. All along
the coast the water rushing down from the hills during the rainy season has
worn and cut channels out of the soft and friable soil to the depth of 100 or
200 feet as it approaches the shore, the sides of these gulches being frequently
nearly perpendicular. The slopes of these cuts are in many parts covered with
a growth of coarse grass, bullrushes, and tall ferns, and a place among these is
usually selected by them for a nesting site. A shallow hole is scratched out
next to the bank, and although you may be able to look down into the nests,
they are frequently inaccessible. I have, while hunting sea birds, often started
Owls from off their nests in such places.”
THE WESTERN HORNED OWL. 885
Mr. W. Otto Emerson, of Haywards, California, found a nest of this Owl,
containing three young birds, on a sleeper under a railroad bridge, and Lieut.
Robert C. Van Vliet, U. 8. Army, tells me that he frequently saw these birds
flying about within the town limits of Santa Fé, New Mexico, a pair occupying
the tower of the cathedral, and he thmks they nested there.
Mr. Denis Gale says: ‘Hach pair of these birds have their particular
range, and no amount of harassing or robbing them of their eggs two or
three times a year, will induce them to leave a locality once chosen. The
food supply, of course, is the chief consideration influencing their choice. In
some cases half a mile of creek bottom defines the limit of their preserve
or hunting ground, and occasionally it is larger, every square foot of which, in
time, becomes familiar by careful watching night and day. No doubt every
burrow and hiding place, from that of a mouse to a jack-rabbit, is known to
them. * * * A choice of location once made is never abandoned, unless
civilization blots out the cover or kills the birds.”
The Western Horned Owl is extremely abundant in favorable localities.
At Fort Custer, Montana, situated in the angle formed by the confluence of the
Big and Little Horn Rivers, I obtained not less than twenty-eight of these
Owls in the winter of 1884—’85, and at least a dozen others were killed which
I did not receive. All were shot within a radius of 6 miles of the post, among
the cottonwood timber on these streams. Every specimen, old or young, was
excessively fat, showing that notwithstanding their numbers, they all readily
procured an abundance of food even in the severest winter weather. The
Columbian Sharp-tailed Grouse appeared to have suffered greatly from their
depredations, as fully one-half of the birds secured contained reniains of these
in their crops. A few of the specimens obtained here were intermediate in
plumage between this race and the Arctic Horned Owl, probably migrants
from the north.
In the southern parts of their range nidification begins occasionally in the
first part of January. Capt. B. F. Goss found a set of their eggs on the 8th of
that month. Usually it does not begin much before February 15, and lasts
until the middle of March. Climate seems to have little to do with the time of
nesting with these birds, as they nest sometimes fully as late in the semi-
tropical regions as they do much farther north.
The Western Horned Owl is a persistent layer. Mr. Gale writes me
that he has taken three sets of eggs from the same pair of birds in the sea-
son of 1889 at intervals of about four weeks. The first set contained four
eggs, the second three, and the last two each, and the nesting site was changed
each time. Where they use open nests the site is likely to be changed each
season, but when a hollow tree or a hole in a cliff is chosen they usually
occupy the same from year to year, unless too often disturbed. The old
birds can generally be found in the vicinity of their breeding ground through-
out the year. Mr. Gale believes that these Owls do not breed until the
second year, and as a rule only a single brood is raised; but the fact that young
26957—Bull. 1 25
386 LIFE HISTORIES OF NORTH AMERICAN BIRDS.
birds not yet able to fly are occasionally found so late in the season, and some-
times in localities where they certainly had not been disturbed previously, it
would appear as if a second might now and then be reared. A few days after
my arrival at Fort Klamath, Oregon (June 18, 1882), one of my men brought
me a young Owl of this subspecies which he had caught alive in the pine
forest south of the post. It could barely fly at the time, and if not from a
second brood the eggs must have been laid several weeks later than usual.
The eggs number two or three to a set, occasionally four, and sets of
three are about as often found as the smaller number, while those of four
are not especially rare. Mr. Charles F. Morrison reports taking one of six
in Wyoming, an extremely large set, and Mr. Charles C. Neale writes me
that he took a set of five eggs from a nest in an oak tree in the mountains
in Plumas County, California.
They are deposited generally at intervals of two or three days, the
female attending to the duty of incubation exclusively, I believe, and which
lasts about four weeks. The male supplies his mate with the necessary food
while she is so engaged, and when not hunting is usually found in close
proximity to the nest. The eggs are similar to those of the Great Horned
Owl.
The average measurement of fifteen specimens in the U. 8. National
Museum collection is 55.5 by 47 millimetres. The largest egg of this series
measures 58.5 by 48.5, the smallest 53.5 by 45 millimetres. None are figured.
* 135. Bubo virginianus arcticus (Swainson).
ARCTIC HORNED OWL.
Strix (Bubo) arctica SwWAINSON, Fauna Boreali Americana, 1, 1831, 86, Pl. 30.
Bubo virginianus var. arcticus Cassin, Illustrated Birds of California, etc., 1854, 178.
(B 48, part; C 317a, part; R 4056, C 463, part; U 375.)
GEOGRAPHICAL RANGE: Arctic America, chiefly the interior; south in winter to
the Great Plains (the two Dakotas, Montana, etc.).
The breeding range of the Arctic Horned Owl, a much lighter colored
race than the two preceding forms, is confined, as far as known at present,
to those parts of the interior of British North America situated between James
Bay (Moose Factory), the west shores of Hudson Bay, and the eastern slopes
of the Rocky Mountains, north of latitude 51°, and extending in a northwest-
erly direction to northern Alaska, where a specimen was obtained by Mr. C. L.
Mackay on the Attoknagik River, August 24, 1881. Like the Western Horned
Owl it inhabits the more open country throughout its range, more especially
along the shores of the numerous lakes and streams found in those inhospi-
table regions. In winter it migrates southward, though rarely entering our
borders. As yet I have not seen a specimen of this race obtained within the
limits of the United States that could be called typical. While stationed at
THE ARCTIC HORNED OWL. 387
Fort Custer, Montana, I received several Owls which approached this form,
being intermediate between it and the Western Horned Owl, but none were
perfect types of either.
Mr. R. MacFarlane met with the Arctic Horned Owl in the country
between Fort Good Hope on the Lower. Mackenzie and the Anderson River
region, within the Arctic circle, and in a collection of birds and eggs recently
received from him is a very light colored female of this race, a perfectly
typical specimen from Moose Lake, eastern Saskatchewan, shot in May, 1890,
which probably marks nearly the southern limit of its breeding range. These
birds feed on the numerous waterfowl, Ptarmigan, and the Arctic hares inhab-
iting these regions, and are probably common enough in suitable localities,
where an abundance of food is easily obtainable.
Nothing is as yet known about their mode of nesting or their eggs, which
are not likely to differ from those of the preceding races.
136. Bubo virginianus saturatus Ripe@way.
DUSKY HORNED OWL.
Bubo virginianus saturatus RIDGWAY, Ornithology of the 40th Par., 1877, 572, foot-
note.
(B 48, part; C 3176, R 405c, C 464, U 375c.)
GEOGRAPHICAL RANGE: From Labrador and Hudson Bay; west through the inte-
rior to Alaska, and south probably through all the higher regions of the Rocky and
Sierra Nevada Mountains; south to Arizona (San Francisco Mountain).
The range of the Dusky Horned Owl, the darkest colored of the different
races of the genus Bubo, has until recently been supposed to be confined to
the coast regions of Oregon, Washington, British Columbia, and Alaska Terri-
tory. As it is well known to occur also in Labrador—and, furthermore, to
breed there, showing that it is not an accidental straggler—it probably also
inhabits the wooded regions of the interior, covered with hardy spruce and
pine forests, which connect these widely separated points, and reach from the
North Atlantic Ocean nearly to Bering and the Arctic Sea. As yet, however,
no specimens of this race have been obtained from the interior of British North
‘America. This is not surprising when we consider the fact that this large bird
has until very recently been overlooked in regions far more accessible than
the so-called ‘fur countries.”
During a biological survey, conducted under the direction of Dr. C. Hart
Merriam, Chief of the Division of Ornithology and Mammalogy, U. 8. Depart-
ment of Agriculture, made in August and September, 1889, and which resulted
in some extremely interesting discoveries, a specimen of this dark colored race
was shot on September 14, in the pine belt on San Francisco Mountain, central
Arizona. Another was seen at the same time, and they are reported as toler-
ably common in that vicinity. This extends the range of this race south to
latitude 35° N.
388 LIFE HISTORIES OF NORTH AMERICAN BIRDS.
Since it occurs in Arizona it will doubtless be found to inhabit all the
higher timbered ranges and spurs of both the Rocky and Sierra Nevada,
Mountains, within the United States, and possibly the Sierra Madre of northern
Mexico as well, and breeding perhaps entirely in the fir and spruce belt above
an altitude of 8,000 feet, where they find a summer climate similar to that of
the higher latitudes they inhabit in the Arctic regions. On the approach of
winter they probably all leave the mountain summits and descend to the foot-
hills. |
I am well aware of the fact that the Dusky Horned Owl is a migrant, at
least in some parts of its range, having shot quite a number of these birds
in different parts of Oregon and Washington during the winter months. At
Fort Walla Walla, Washington, situated in the fertile valley bearing the same
name, near the northern slopes of the Blue Mountains, I found this race especi-
ally common at that season. Of the eighteen birds obtained there, twelve
were referable to this form; three were intermediate, and three were typical
Bubo virginianus subarcticus, the latter breeding there regularly, while the
Dusky Horned Owls seem to retire to the higher timbered mountains at the
approach of spring; at any rate, none of the dark birds were seen during
the nesting season.
The late Mr. Robert Kennicott found a nest and two eggs of the Dusky
Horned Owl near Fort Yukon, Alaska, April 16, 1862. The female parent
(No. 27075, U.S. National Museum collection), procured at the same time, is
one of the darkest colored specimens of the entire series of skins of this race
in the collection. The nest is described as a large structure, made of dry
branches, and placed in the top of a spruce standing in a dense grove
of trees of the same species; the inner cavity was shallow and simply lined
with a few feathers. It contained two fresh eggs, and another, fully formed
but broken, was found in the oviduct of the female, also a smaller ovum
about the size of a musket ball.
Mr. H. Connelly found the Dusky Horned Owl breeding at Fort Nis-
copec, Labrador, in the spring of 1863.