st University of California Publications in Zoology [Vou 30

Small chicks were seen on July 8. By the first of September young
birds were nearly finished with the post-juvenal molt, and about two-
thirds the size of adults by measurement, though of only one-half the
weight. The broods are cared for solely by the hen. The old cock is
usually solitary during the summer, though males of the previous
year sometimes form small coveys, together with non-breeding females.
Such gatherings were encountered on several oceasions. The hen with
a brood is sometimes tame to the verge of stupidity; I found several
that were, literally, as indifferent to approach as any barn-yard
fowl. I have, however, seen an occasional covey of young birds that
was extremely hard to approach. The broods often feed over open
meadows, where they are exposed to attack by hawks and other enemies,
and there must be a heavy mortality from such causes. That this is so
is borne out by the small size of most of the broods encountered, and
by the number of hens seen with no broods at all.

Following is a list of subspecies of the grouse of the genus
Dendragapus, arranged according to their geographical position, from
north to south.

. Dendragapus obscurus flemingi Taverner. Fleming Dusky Grouse.
Dendragapus obseurus richardsonii (Douglas). Richardson Dusky Grouse,
Dendragapus obseurus obseurus (Say). Colorado Dusky Grouse.
Dendragapus fuliginosus fuliginosus (Ridgway). Oregon Sooty Grouse.
. Dendragapus fuliginosus sitkensis Swarth. Sitka Sooty Grouse.
Dendragapus fuliginosus sierrae Chapman. Sierra Sooty Grouse.

. Dendragapus fuliginosus howardi Dickey and van Rossem. Mount Pinos
Sooty Grouse. .

NPA eee

Canachites canadensis osgoodi Bishop. Alaska Spruce Grouse

Ordinarily this is a common species in the region, but in 1924, for
some reason that was not obvious, spruce grouse had declined in num-
bers to a point of actual scarcity. Single birds were flushed at long
intervals, as were occasionally hens with their broods, consisting of
one, two, or three chicks. No larger broods were seen. Early in
September, traveling from Atlin to Lake Teslin and back, a week’s
trip, I saw all told only ten or twelve spruce grouse. This was in
country that was throughout suitable to the species, and where during
other years it had been found in abundance.

The spruce grouse is primarily a lowland species in the Atlin region.
In the valleys it oceupies the spruce woods almost entirely, being —