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SOOTY GROUSE

Other common names: Blue Grouse; Wood Grouse; Hooter.

Museum Specimen - Nickel Creek (3300).

The sooty grouse is found all over the park below the snow fields. They are perfectly at home on the high alpine meadows as well as in the thick timber below, and are commonly seen about the Yakima Park country in summer and fall. The whole northern section of the park is their breeding ground, the beautiful country around Mystic Lake being particularly a favorite spot. Their greatest numbers, however, are in the vast country from Reflection Lake down through Stevens Canyon and the Nickel Creek burn. Here they have plenty of coniferous and deciduous growth as well as a dry, sandy soil, and in the fall acres of huckleberry bushes and other small fruits from which to feed. The westside highway and the slopes of Mt. Wow are favorite habitats and the "hooting" of the males is heard from the snowcovered hillsides as early as March.

Blue grouse are born ventriloquists, and to locate the hooter by tracing the sound is often difficult, and a trying experience on one's neck. Fir trees do have thick branches! In the alpine country above timber the hooting is done from the ground.

On June 10th, 1937, I watched a female sooty grouse on the ground near Reflection Lake. A male bird was "hooting" nearby. She was very tame and acted as if she had a nest and incomplete set of eggs and did not want to leave. After several minutes she crouched under a small tree, acting rather queerly. She went through a series of gulps resembling a case of hic-cups with the neck swollen and the feathers ruffed. Then, to my surprise, she emitted a series of soft "hoots" similar to those of the male but very subdued. It is the only time I have observed this, nor have I ever heard of it before.

Sooty grouse nest about the middle of May at low levels but later in the more snow-covered areas. They lay seven to nine eggs, buff colored, with rich brown markings. The nest is simply a depression in the ground, often at the base of a large tree or under some freshly fallen branch in fairly open woods.

These birds do not migrate, but there is a decided downward change made in winter, many undoubtedly descending well below the park boundaries.

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OREGON RUFFED GROUSE

Other common names: Native Pheasant; Bush Pheasant; Partridge Drummer.

Museum Specimens - Nisqually Entrance (2100).

From the Atlantic to the Pacific this is the favorite of all upland birds. He may change in density of color and very much in disposition, but he is ever the finest of game birds.

Here in Washington our birds are more reddish or deep rusty in color, contrasting to the more grayish colored birds of the eastern woods. The latter, however, have long since learned the danger of civilization and the hunter, and in order to exist have become the craftiest and most intelligent of birds. Here, where a part of our original forests still stand, the bird is anything but smart and can be classed in the same category with other "fool hens".

The range of the ruffed grouse in the park is restricted to the southern boundary, extending from the Nisqually Entrance to Longmire, and the Nickel Creek Burn between the Tatoosh Range and the Cowlitz Divide. They are birds of the alder thickets and dark shady places, and are not found in the higher altitudes.

They are earlier nesters than the sooty grouse, and the full set of ten or eleven eggs should be laid by the last week in April.

The ruffed grouse has actually drummed up a question that caused arguments, almost warfare, among the woods people for years and still is not altogether settled. This concerns the rolling, drumming noise produced by the cock bird at mating time. In the quiet woods it has a carrying quality heard at a surprisingly long distance. The question is a tri-sided one; first, is the noise produced by the rapidly moving wings striking the bird's body; second, is it produced by the wings striking over the bird's back; and third, is it produced by the wings hitting the air only. Older naturalists favored the latter idea, but modern cameras and "movies" seem to bear out the first.

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RAINIER WHITE-TAILED PTARMIGAN

Other common names: Mountain Grouse; Snow Grouse.

On our Mountain at least, the ptarmigan is the original mountaineer. They dwell most of the year on the high snowfields, descending only in winter for food and then perhaps not lower than five thousand feet. Then too, they adapt themselves to surrounding conditions and seasons by changing their speckled coats of black, gray and brown in summer, to pure white in winter. They also have a perfect set of hairy snowshoes with which to travel over the snow when winter comes.

When the hot days come in June, melting bare spots in the snow; when the trails are again open we may ascend to the ptarmigan country, finding the birds in pairs in dark-colored clothes. Their nesting site is a slight depression among the rocks where five to seven eggs are laid, buffy-white with brown spots. The female is a close sitter and often will allow a person to pick her up, settling back on her eggs when free. It is a pretty sight to see a mother bird and her brood running over the snow in search of insects.

Ptarmigan may be seen in summer from the trail above McClure's Rock also on Burrough's Mountain and in the Spray Park country - in fact, any where above six thousand feet if one makes the climb.

On July 7, 1937, I was watching a pair of ptarmigan on Burrough's Mountain. It was mid-day and hot, so the birds stirred but little - in fact, the hen bird closed her eyes and went to sleep within a few feet of me. The male, however, kept watch and cackled excitedly if I moved, and when I approached too close he crowed just like a bantam rooster in his excitement. When he first did this I nearly fell off the rock on which I was sitting; I had never heard of a game bird's crowing like a barn-yard fowl, much less seen or heard one do it! But he did do this several times for me.

It is very doubtful if this bird is on the increase or even holding its own in our park. It was never numerous, and now with the increasing numbers of coyotes it may not be long until this interesting bird is a thing of the past on our mountain.

In summer their food consists chiefly of insects and the buds from the heather. In winter, when this source of food is blanketed by snow, they descend to feed on the winter buds of the willow, alder and other deciduous growth. Brockman photographed several ptarmigan in the alder thickets below the terminus of the Nisqually Glacier in April and May of 1934. In the first instance the birds were clothed in their white winter plumage; in the latter they had already began their change to their summer garb.

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CALIFORNIA QUAIL

Other common names: California Partridge; Valley Quail.

Museum Specimens - Box Canyon Bridge (3040).

It is difficult to know what to call the California Quail - whether he is a "visitor" or a "resident". Perhaps a better word or description would be "pioneer", for he is that and always has been in Washington. Brought up from California, they have settled the western part of the State and are now pushing eastward. A few older records of this bird had been made within the park boundaries, but when, on October 12, 1935, a covey of at least a dozen birds appeared at the Box Canyon Bridge over the Muddy Fork several miles inside the park, it is only natural to expect them gradually to become more plentiful on our mountain. It is a mystery how this covey got there. They must have come up the Cowlitz banks - a trip of some ten miles - and they would have to go back in winter as no food would be available.

California quail are prolific breeders, laying some twelve to eighteen eggs and usually two broods a year. While the female is on the second set, the first family is seen under the leadership of the male bird. Their eggs are top-shaped, buffy in color with brown markings and spots. Often two birds lay in one nest, and we have records of as many as twenty-eight eggs, the product of two or more birds.

These birds can be identified from other quail by their top-knot of black feathers curling frontward over the forehead. In other Quail they slope backward. The bluish coat of the male bird is also distinctive.

They thrive well near civilization and are a common resident on the outskirts of our western cities. They are beneficial in gardens, destroying many insects. Their daily life is much on schedule; they not only have a steady day's circle but will appear at a certain place at a certain time. Being fast runners, they cover a great deal of ground each day.

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Descriptions continued...