DENDRAQAPUS OBSCURUS.
“ Tlicso biixlg, a t Port Stcilacoom, arc very abundant thronghout tlie spring and early summer, They are there mostly confined to the
forests of fir trees [Ahies Doiig/as$ii). Late in the season, after hatching, they may be found generally a t midday on the ground, in search
of berries, seeds, &c. When alarmed, tliey almost invariably seek safety among the dense foliage of tlic trees, instinctively appearing to
understand the advanUgcs of tlm.s liiding, In tlie autumn they are more generally found on the ground, feeding on saUal and other
berries. One day in October, 185C, I saw on the Nisqually plains, among fern and grass, five of these birds, full grown, and in excellent
order, A man killed the whole live, one by one, with a double-barrelled gun, without an attempt being made by a single individual to fly.
This Grouse is a very fine table bird; the little dash o f pine iasic its flesh possesses only adding to its game flavor. I have known males,
in June, weighing three and a half pounds, altliough they rarely exceed two and tliroo fourths pounds. By August 1st, tlio young arc
generally half grown. They are then easily killed on the wing, and ave excellent fov the table,”
The flesh of this Grouse is white, resembling in appearance th a t of the Rnffcd Grouse [B. Umbethis), to w-hicli, in the consideration of
many, few birds can compare, as regards tenderness and flavor. When on the ground, it will lie very close, sometimes starting up almost
from midev your feet, and generally, instead of seekiug safety in distant flight, wiU take refuge in tho nearest tree, where it will remain
m motionless as tho branches themselves, and in this manner escape, since it is next to impossible to discover it, as stated in tho passage
I have quoted above. The male exceeds the fcinalo in size, and is almost unequalled iu beauty of plumage and gallant bearing,
among the American Gronse. Its geographical distribution aiipcars to be Northern California, on the Columbia River, as far as tho coast
of Oregon and Washington Territories, and tbeiiee southward iu the main chain of the Rocky Momitains as far us Texas.
As this species, togotlicv witli its near relative, commonly known as Te/rao Riehardsoni, ap))car to possess sufficient characters to distinguish
them fi-om the genus Canaee (a term formed to incindc the American Wood Grouse), in having gniar sacks, and tail composed of
twenty foatbci-s, I have deemed it best to include them in a separate gcnns by tbemselve.s, and have therefore proposed the term Dendra-
gapm. or Ti-ee-loving. The nest is formed upon the ground, and the eggs arc of an asb-bron ii color. The male has the entire upper pai-ts
of a leaden gray, oacli feather mottled with nifons brown and black, this color extending throughout the upper tail coverts, the two
middle foatbei-s of which are tipjicd with asliy,
The wmgs arc bluisli gray, mottled similarly to the back, with, however, larger spots and bni-s. and inclined to ashy near the end of
the feathers; the primarie.s and greater portion of the sccondailes brown, with their outer webs of a light brown. Space before the eye,
cluii, and tliroat, \iliitc, irregularly crossed with black. Breast and abdomen dark lead color; the feathers on the flanks broadly marked
with white (in some instances, with a wliitc central streak widening a t the end). A spot of white upon the neck just forward of tlio
This covers the naked skin of tho giilar sacks, wlicn it is not inflated. Tlie tail feathers are black, rounded a t the end, with
of ash gray, and the under coverts dark lead color, broadly tipped with white. a broad terminal ba Thighs and tami pale brown.
Bill black.
The female lias the upper parts of a grayish brown, each fcatlier with bars of black and rnfons brown; the black bam broadest and most
cons[ucuous upon tho lower part of tho neck and ba ck ; and here also are bars of brownish yellow in place of the rufous brown. Upper part
of head yellowish brown, crossed with fine dark brown lines; back of neck leaden gray, indistinctly barred ivith black lines; upper tail coverts
grayish, with zig-zag lines of black and yelloivish brown, IViiigs lighter brown than the back, but similarly crossed with brown and black,
and tho shafts of the feathei-s whitish. Primaries and secondaries light brown, the outer webs of both mottled with a very light broara,’
darker, however, on the secondaries. Tail black, excepting the central feathers, which ave marked like the back, and with a broad terminal
band of ash gray. Throat white, faintly marked with brown; upper part of head dark lead color, with irregular lines of yellowish brown
crossing near the end of tho fcathem; under parts lead color, lighter than the male, and much obscured with white, and the feathers bordei-ing
tho belly broadly tipped with white. Under tail coverts dark gray, crossed with black linos, and tipped witli white. Tliighs and tami ii-zht
brown. Bill black. °
Tlic plate represents the male of life size, and a reduced figure of the female in the distance.