•^i^^^^^\fr.,

*1

WME NIRDS

OP ORTHMMERIGA

Hanieu

^IRAUD

Elliot

In Memory of
Dr. William H. Sheldon

The Gift of
His Associates

d

GAME BIRDS OF NORTH AMERICA

Ask thou the citizens of pathless woods;

What cut the air with wings ? "

— Sandys.

THE
GALLINACEOUS

GAME BIRDS

OF

NORTH AMERICA

INCLUDING THE PARTRIDGES, GROUSE, PTARMIGAN,
AND WILD TURKEYS ; WITH ACCOUNTS OF THEIR DIS-
PERSION, HABITS, NESTING, ETC., AND FULL DESCRIP-
TIONS OF THE PLUMAGE OF BOTH ADULT AND YOUNG, TO-
GETHER WITH THEIR POPULAR AND SCIENTIFIC NAMES

A hook written both for those who love to seek these birds afield with

dog and gun, as well as those who may only desire to learn the

ways of such attractive creatures in their haunts

BY

DANIEL GIRAUD ELLIOT, P. R. S. E., etc.

Ex-President of the American Ornithologists' Union
Author of the '■^ New and Heretofore Unfigured Birds of North America,^''
of the ''North American Shore Birds,'' of the Illustrated Mono-
graphs of the Ant Thrushes, Grouse Pheasants,
Birds of Paradise^ Hornbills, Cats, etc.

WITH FORTY -SIX PLATES

SECOND EDITION
NEW YORK

FRANCIS p. HARPER

1897

Copyright, 1897,

BY
FRANCIS P. HARPER.

PREFACE.

No group of animals is more important to man than
the one comprising the galHnaceous birds — the source
from which has been derived the countless varieties of
domesticated fowl distributed throughout the world.

As articles of food they are of inestimable value, and
the birds enter largely into the various accounts of trade.
But beside the commercial aspect, which is important
enough, the species present other attractions that appeal
most strongly to those for whom this book was espe-
cially written, the sportsmen — viz., the pleasure they
yield in the chase, and the incentive they provide for
action and effort, when, in the leafy aisles of the whisper-
ing forests, or in the thickets, and along the banks of the
leaping stream, or on the open sky-encircled prairie,
man in his quest for these game-like creatures, aided by
his faithful dog, finds renewed health and strength to
wrestle with the toils and troubles of his daily life. For
accomplishing this result alone, even if in all their life
and death they yielded no other, these birds were not
created in vain.

The favorable reception given to my book on the
" Shore Birds " has encouraged me to write the life his-
tories (as my opportunities have enabled me to become
familiar with them) of possibly the most attractive feath-
ered creatures, certainly so from the sportsman's point of
view, which our country possesses. The water fowl to
some may appear more desirable, a few are really game,
and I would be the last to speak or write disparagingly

VI PREFACE.

of them; but the environment of the Ducks and Geese
suffers in comparison with that of galhnaceous birds,
and the beautiful pictures of high-bred dogs, seeking and
pointing game, are lacking in the pursuit of the web-
footed quarry.

The construction of the present volume is precisely
similar to that of the '' Shore Birds," and first is given
the common name of each bird, or, if there are more than
one, that most generally employed. Then follows an
account of the habits and economy of the species, and
a short life history; after which comes the Latin name
succeeded by the geographical distribution, and a de-
scription of both sexes when necessary, and of the young
whenever possible.

In the Appendix will be found the Keys to the Families,
Subfamilies, Genera, and Species, arranged in the same
simple manner as those published in the *' Shore Birds,"
and which will enable anyone with a little patience to
ascertain to what species an unfamiliar example may
belong. Excepting perhaps the Ptarmigan, the various
species of gallinaceous birds are more easily recognized
from each other, in illustrations printed only in black and
white, than are those of the *' Shore Birds," and the
various Keys will be found perhaps less necessary, and
only really required in the cases of the group above men-
tioned, or in closely allied species of Prairie Grouse.

The author's experience among the game birds has
been very extensive, gained from a familiar acquaintance
with them in their haunts extending over many years.
With a few exceptions, he has observed all the species
contained in this book in the various localities they fre-
quent throughout North America, and in the proper
season representatives of most of them have fallen to his
gun. Unlike the majority of the ** Shore Birds," omit-

PRE FA CE. Vll

ting a few species and those mainly among the Ptarmi-
gan, Partridges and Grouse breed within the hmits of the
United States, and their habits in the nesting season can
be observed by anyone who may be sufficiently inter-
ested to visit those parts of our country in which the
birds are to be found.

Their nests are similar in construction, but the eggs
vary greatly in coloration, and some, like those of the
Ptarmigan, are strongly characteristic and unmistak-
able in their markings. The eggs of the Partridges are
usually of one color and unspotted, those of the Grouse
and Turkeys more or less covered with spots, which
differ in hue from the ground color.

Having provided in the work on " Shore Birds " a
map which gave the position and name of all the differ-
ent portions of a bird's plumage, it does not seem neces-
sary to issue another for the birds contained in this, a
companion volume, for the arrangement of the plumage
in all birds is the same, although the shape of the
feathers may be very different, and the terms by which
these are known do not vary.

The plates which adorn the volume are the production
of the clever pencil of Mr. Edwin Sheppard, who illus-
trated the '' Shore Birds," and like those drawings, these,
executed with equal fidelity, will be of the utmost assist-
ance in helping those unfamiliar with the species to
recognize their specimens without difficulty.

The Latin names employed, except when reasons are
given in the articles or in the Appendix for changing
them, are those of the last edition of the Check List
issued by the American Ornithologists' L^nion.

The author sincerely trusts that this book will prove to
be of value to all sportsmen, and help bring to their mem-
ories halcyon days amid the game birds in tangled brake

VI 11 PREFACE.

or open prairie, and that the student, desirous of learning
the ways of hfe and variations in dress of one of the most
gallant and attractive groups of birds living to-day, may
find some profit and instruction in a perusal of its pages.
My thanks are due to my friends Professor Allen and
Mr. Chapman of the New York Museum of Natural
History, to Mr. R. Ridgway of the Smithsonian Institu-
tion, and to Mr. Whitmer Stone of the Academy of
Natural Sciences of Philadelphia, for the loan of speci-
mens of the various species from which the illustrations
in this volume have been made.

TABLE OF CONTENTS.

PAGE

Preface, v

List of Illustrations, xi

Introduction, xiii

Bob White, 19

The Florida Bob White, 32

Texan Bob White, . .' 35

Masked Bob White, 38

Mountain Partridge, . 41

Plumed Partridge, 44

San Pedro Partridge, 47

Scaled Partridge, 49

Chestnut-Bellied Scaled Partridge 53

California Partridge, 55

Valley Partridge, 58

Gambel's Partridge, 62

Massena Partridge, 69

Ruffed Grouse, 74

Oregon, or Sabine's Grouse 81

Canadian Ruffed Grouse, 84

Gray Ruffed Grouse, 88

Dusky Grouse, 90

Sooty Grouse, 94

Richardson's Grouse, 98

Canada Grouse, 100

Franklin's Grouse, 106

Prairie Hen, no

ix

X CONTENTS.

PAGE

Heath Hen, 117

Lesser Prairie Hen, 120

Attwater's Prairie Hen, 122

Sharp-Tailed Grouse, 123

Columbian Sharp-Tailed Grouse, 126

Prairie Sharp-Tailed Grouse, 129

Sage Grouse, 136

Willow Ptarmigan, 142

Allen's Ptarmigan, 149

Rock Ptarmigan, 151

Reinhardt's Ptarmigan, 154

Welch's Ptarmigan, 157

Nelson's Ptarmigan, 159

Turner's Ptarmigan, 161

Townsend's Ptarmigan, 163

Evermann's Ptarmigan 165

White-Tailed Ptarmigan, 167

Wild Turkey, . 172

Florida Wild Turkey, i77

Elliot's Rio Grande Turkey, 180

Mexican Turkey, 182

Appendix, 189

Index, 213

LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS.

1. Bob White, Frontispiece

2. Florida Bob White, .... Opposite page 32

3. Texan Bob White, .... " "35

4. Masked Bob White, . . . . " "38

5. Mountain Partridge, . . . " "41

6. Plumed Partridge, .... " "44

7. San Pedro Partridge, . . " "47

8. Scaled Partridge, .... " "49

9. Chestnut-Bellied Scaled Partridge, " "53

10. California Partridge, . . . . " "55

11. Valley Partridge, .... " "58

12. Gambel's Partridge, .... " "62

13. Massena Partridge, . • . . " "69

14. Ruffed Grouse, . . . . . " "74

15. Oregon, or Sabine's Ruffed Grouse, " " 81

16. Canadian Ruffed Grouse, . . " "84

17. Gray Ruffed Grouse, . . . " "88

18. Dusky Grouse, " "90

19. Sooty Grouse, " "94

20. Richardson's Grouse, . . . . " "98

21. Canada Grouse, .... .« .. jo^

22. Franklin's Grouse, .... " " 106

23. Prairie Hen, " " no

24. Heath Hen, " " 117

25. Lesser Prairie Hen, ... .... j2o

26. Attwater's Prairie Hen, . . . " "122

xi

Xll

LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS.

Sharp-Tailed Grouse,
Columbian Sharp-Tailed Grouse,
Prairie Sharp-Tailed Grouse,

Sage Grouse,

Willow Ptarmigan, . . . .
Willow Ptarmigan in Winter,
Rock Ptarmigan, . . . .

Rock Ptarmigan in Winter,
Reinhardt's Ptarmigan,
Welch's Ptarmigan, ....
Nelson's Ptarmigan, . . . .
Turner's Ptarmigan,
Townsend's Ptarmigan,
Evermann's Ptarmigan,
White-Tailed Ptarmigan,

42. White-Tailed Ptarmigan in Winter,

43. Wild Turkey,

Florida Wild Turkey,
Elliot's Rio Grande Turkey,

Mexican Turkey

Color Chart at End of the Volume.

27.
28.
29.
30.
31-
32.
33-
34-
35-
36.
37.
38.
39-
40.

41-

44

45
46

opposite

page

123

"

126

i<

129

"

136

I (

142

< (

146

"

151

"

152

1 <

154

( <

157

< (

159

"

161

"

163

"

165

"

167

"

170

"

172

< 1

177

(C

180

u

182

INTRODUCTION.

'^HE great division of the Class Aves called Gallin.e,
^ sometimes designated Rasores (Latin rasor, a
scraper), from the habit possessed by its members
of scratching the ground in search of food, is
composed of two suborders and four families. Of
the latter we have to do at the present time with
only two — Tetraonid.e and Phasianid.e, contain-
ing those species which have fozvl-fecf, in contradistinc-
tion to the other two families — Megapodid^ and
Cracid^, which have feet like a pigeon.

These four families comprise between three and four
hundred species, distributed throughout the world, and
are of the very highest importance in their relation to
man, affording food to multitudes of people, and the
members of the Phasianid.e are the sources of all the
domesticated poultry found in the world to-day.

In form the birds are usually heavy in body with
rather stout legs and feet, small heads and curved bills,
with the nostrils placed in a membrane covered by a
scale, and the wings are short and rounded. In some
subfamilies the males, and occasionally the females,
have the legs armed with spurs, and certain species have
several spurs at a time upon each leg. The sternum, or
breastbone, has a double bifurcation on each side, the
fissures wide and deep, and provides but little space for
the attachment of the great pectoral muscles, which how-
ever are well developed, and give the plump appearance
to the breast so characteristic of these birds. The tail is
of various shapes, and in the Phasianid^ is sometimes

XIV IN TROD UC TION.

lengthened enormously, and occasionally the feathers are
highly decorated by various markings or brilliant color-
ation. The flight is labored but rapid, and occasionally
protracted.

In their anatomy these birds have various pecuHarities.
The esophagus is dilated, forming the crop which re-
ceives and moistens the food; while the gizzard, which
is present in all save the Sage Cock, is very strong, with
a thick, hard, interior wall. To assist this organ in grind-
ing the food the birds are in the habit of swallowing
small stones and other hard objects. The coeca are
highly developed.

The species of this order are accustomed to lay numer-
ous eggs, to go in coveys of considerable numbers, com-
posed at times of one or more families, and the young,
which are at first covered with down, are able to run and
feed as soon as hatched. The family TETRAONiDyE, which
comprises the great majority of gallinaceous birds inhab-
iting North America, contains those known as Quails,
Partridges, and Grouse, and is represented in every por-
tion of the world. The members differ greatly from
each other in many particulars, and form three rather
natural groups or subfamilies, one of which, the Per-
dicinae, or Old World Quails and Partridges, are not
found upon the Western Hemisphere. American Par-
tridges have certain peculiarities, more particularly
described in the Appendix, which place them apart and
distinguish them from their relatives across the sea,
while certain species of Grouse have so wide a dis-
tribution, retaining at the same time their specific
characters, that they are found in high latitudes through-
out the world. This can be said of but very few
species of birds known to ornithologists at the present
day.

IN 1 R OD UC TION. XV

The three subfamiHes — Perdicin^, Odontopho-
RiN^, and Tetraonin^ — comprising the family Te-
TRAONiD^, are known in ornithological language as the
Alectoropodous (Greek dkiKTwp, alector, a cock -f- ttovo-,
pons, a foot) Gallinse, or, to translate it freely, fowl-
footed gallinaceous birds, characterized by having the
hind toe raised above the plane of the front toes and clear
of the ground; differing in this respect from the other
section of the order, the pigeon-footed galHnaceous birds,
or Peristeropodous (Greek ncpicrTepd, peristera, a pigeon,
-\- TTova, pons, a foot) Gallinse, which have the four toes
resting on the ground, all on an equal plane. The
Grouse are distinguished from all members of the order
by having the tarsus, or shank, covered with feathers
more or less completely, sometimes even the toes are
hidden, resembling in this respect certain rapacious
birds, such as Owls and a few species of Hawks and
Eagles. As they are mostly inhabitants of countries
where the winters are usually long and severe, this pro-
vision of nature affords additional and especial protec-
tion against the cold, and guards those parts that are
particularly exposed from the danger of becoming frozen
and probably lost or rendered useless.

The members of the subfamily Tetraonin^ have
many characters that distingush them from other birds,
not the least of which is the gracefully shaped and thor-
oughly game-like head, high in the rear, or occipital
region, with a broad and ample brain case, sloping gradu-
ally forward and contracting toward the junction with the
^curved and usually powerful bill. The brain is Large for
the size of the birds, and it bestows upon them unusual
intelligence, as shown in their cunning, ability to adapt
themselves to their surroundings, and fertility of re-
sources in avoiding danger. A Quail, Grouse, or Tur-

XVI IN TROD UC TION.

key is far from being a stupid bird, and even man, with
his wisdom and variety of methods, has often need of
all his wits to circumvent these wide-awake feathered
creatures.

Gallinaceous birds are terrestrial, but none of them
will hesitate to fly into a tree and walk or roost on the
branches, and they frequently seek the cover of the foliage
when pursued, for protection and concealment. They
are apparently perfectly at home upon a branch, fence,
or similar support, their rather long toes grasping
firmly the perch on which they have taken their
position.

Grouse and Turkeys are generally polygamous, but
the Odontophorinae, or Partridges, are monogamous.
The females of those addicted to the former practice are
usually in the habit of concealing their nests not only
from their natural enemies, but also from the males,
some of which would destroy both eggs and young if
they found the opportunity. In the other class the male
is assiduous in his attentions to his mate when engaged
in the duties of incubation, not infrequently relieving her
by covering the eggs himself, and always shares in car-
ing for and feeding the young. It is a rather singular
fact that in most polygamous species the plumage of the
sexes is very dissimilar, while there is usually but little
difiference observable between those that are monoga-
mous. As a rule the birds contained in this volume moult
once a year in the spring before the commencement of the
breeding season, but the Ptarmigan are an exception,
and are in a continuous state of moult at all seasons,
except, possibly, for a very brief period after they have
assumed the breeding dress, and again in winter when
robed in white. All Ptarmigan turn white in winter,
excepting the Scotch Grouse, so called, which, possibly

INTRODUCTION. xvu

from the effects peculiar to its insular habitat, retains
a plumage of the same colors throughout the year. This
provision of nature for the other species, may be
to give an additional security to the birds when the
whole country of their northern homes is covered by
snow% and so assimilate them to the surrounding white-
ness, that their presence can only be perceived with
great difficulty or by merest chance.

Many Grouse possess a peculiar structure, rarely found
in any other species, in the air sac on the side of the
neck which is capable of being inflated, and then resem-
bles somewhat an orange attached to the neck. By ex-
hausting the air, which can be accomplished at the will
of the bird, a booming sound is produced that may be
heard at a great distance. This performance usually
takes place at the breeding season, and is one of the
male's allurements to secure the attention and probable
fleeting attachment of the females. At all other seasons
this sac shrivels up and is mostly concealed under the
feathers.

One species of another group — Shore Birds — possesses
a similar sac, but differently disposed and of great extent,
which is also exhibited to advantage during the breed-
ing season. This is the Pectoral Sandpiper, a descrip-
tion of whose performance on the tundras of the far
north I have given in my work on the Lim\co\(£.

North America has been most favored among the
countries of the earth in the great variety and number
of her gallinaceous birds, many of the species being
equal to any found in other lands and some surpassing
all others known, in size, magnificent appearance, and in
their value, commercially and otherwise, to the human
race. They are a precious heritage, to be guarded care-
fully and used judiciously if we are wise and far-seeing,

xvili INTRODUCTION,

bestowing benefits on ourselves and on succeeding gen-
erations, or to be recklessly squandered like the fortune
of the spendthrift, leaving to posterity not even a
memory, but simply a tradition of the noblest race of
feathered creatures Nature ever produced. Which shall
it be?

GAME BIRDS OF NORTH AMERICA.

BOB WHITE.

\A/IDELY distributed throughout the Eastern por-
^ ' tions of the United States, from southern Ontario
on the north to Florida on the south, this most attractive
Httle bird, called in the Northern and Middle States Quail,
and in the South Partridge, is the best known and most
eagerly sought of all our game birds by the lovers of dog
and gun who rejoice in the sports of woods and fields.
It is a sociable species, frequents cultivated lands, resorts
to the vicinity of the farmer's dwelling and barns, and
follows the onward march of the pioneer as he penetrates
the wilderness to conquer the rough places of the land,
and produce smiling sunlit fields w^here once the darken-
ing forests stood. In Vermont, New Hampshire, and
northern New York it is rare, and occasionally occurs
in Maine, but throughout the Eastern States, except
Florida, and west of the IMississippi in the States of
Missouri, Kansas, Arkansas, Louisiana, eastern Texas,
northern New Mexico, and the Indian Territory it is
more or less abundant; and is steadily advancing west-
ward in the track of the new settlements and cultivated
land.

It has been introduced into South Dakota, pos-
sibly from Florida, as the birds I have seen from that
far Western State resemble very closely those from the
southern peninsula, and in 187 1 some were turned loose in

19

20 GAME BIRDS OF NORTH AMERICA.

the Great Salt Lake Valley, Utah, and are now common
in various portions of that State. In 1875 a few were liber-
ated at Boise City, Idaho, and not many years after the
birds were numerous along the Boise River and west of
the Snake River. It has also been introduced into Colo-
rado, California, quite abundant about Gilroy, Oregon,
in several of the islands in Puget Sound, and wherever
the climate is suitable and food abundant. This species
will flourish and increase in numbers in most cHmates,
soon adapting itself to its surroundings. As a rule,
Bob White is a resident and passes his life in or near
the places in which he was hatched, but in the more
northern portions of his habitat, even as far south as
Virginia, there appears to be a partial migration north
and south in the spring and autumn, and when shoot-
ing I have often met with coveys that seemed to be
traveling, though of course it is difficult to prove the
fact. But it is certain that within a district where every
covey which inhabits it is known and the place it usually
frequents well ascertained, occasionally in the autumn
other bevies will appear upon the same ground, appar-
ently on the tramp, and which make no stay.

This bird never goes in packs or large flocks, like the
plumed quails of New Mexico, Arizona, or California,
but individuals of each covey, presumably one family,
remain together, and even after they have been decimated
by the sportsman or by furred and feathered enemies,
the survivors rarely join another bevy, but keep by
themselves until the recurring spring. The mating
season commences according to the latitude of the birds'
habitat, from March to May, and nidification from April
to June. As spring begins to temper the keen blasts of
winter, and the rays of the returning sun, coming from
the southern limit of its journey below the Equator, cause

BOB WHITE. 21

the buds to swell upon the trees, and Nature commences
to rouse herself from her winter's sleep, the clear, sharp
call of the male bird is heard, as perched upon some
fence rail or other elevated place in the field, he utters
the well-known sounds "Bob White, ah! Bob White,"
expressing the latent passion of love that begins to
awaken in his brave little heart. The united family that
happily has kept together throughout the trying winter
has become separated, and every male member is occu-
pied with the important duty of seeking a mate. Each
little feathered breast is swelling with the fires of love,
and with proud carriage and eyes flashing with the desire
that permeates his whole body, the cock endeavors to
secure the attention of the object of his choice, to win
her admiration, to attract her by his proud bearing, to
cause her to listen to his sweet, earnest tones, and to
reciprocate the love he offers so ardently. Ah, but she
is coy, the little buff-throated hen! only looks at her
lover from beneath the shelter of some bush, and makes
no reply to his ringing love song, that is uttered with in-
creasing power and passion. He leaves his coign of
vantage and runs toward her, puffs up his feathers for
an instant, and then leaps upon some low stump and
pours out the clear '* Bob White," like a challenge to all
the world to come and dispute his love. Again he draws
near, but she shyly moves away, looking back at him
meanwhile, as if half inviting him to follow. No persua-
sion is needed for such an ardent knight, and he is by her
side, telling his love in sweet, low tones that cause her
to listen with less reserve to her gallant cavalier, who
ever presses nearer, and bows before her, until capti-
vated by his handsome presence and melodious voice,
and with an answering love springing up in her own
breast at length she yields a timorous consent.

22 GAME BIRDlS of NORTH AMERICA.

The nest, placed upon the ground, is not much of
a structure, merely a cavity hollowed out in the soil
under a bush or fence, in pastures, or in the cotton rows
in Southern States ; in fact, in any spot where the locality
affords the required concealment and privacy. It is well
hidden and lined with grasses or stubble and sometimes
arched over at the top with an aperture at the side, or
again, entirely open. The eggs, which are a brilliant
white, sharply pointed at one end, vary in number from
twelve to tw^enty, and sometimes as many as thirty-two
have been found, but, in such a case, more than one hen
must have laid in the nest, or it may be that, when only
one brood is raised in a season, the usual number may
be considerably exceeded. The eggs are packed in
closely with the pointed ends downward, and so skillfully
are they arranged that once removed it is practically
impossible to put them back again. In about twenty-
four days the young appear, incubation having been per-
formed by both sexes, chiefly, however, by the female,
as is natural, and the comical little downy balls, which the
chicks resemble, run about as soon as they escape from
the t^^. It is not often that the female is seen while
incubation is progressing, but the male is frequently
heard as from some stump or fence in the vicinity he
whistles his clear '' Bob White." In New England this
call is interpreted as '' more wet " or '' no more wet,"
according to the views of the wiseheads as to the proba-
ble future condition of the weather.

The young are faithfully cared for by both parents, and
scatter immediately at the note of alarm sounded by the
old birds, hiding themselves in the grass or under leaves,
while the parents, by the usual artifice of lameness or
inability to fly, draw the intruder away from the place,
to return again w^hen all danger has passed. The note

BOB WHITE. 23

by which the young are called together is very low and
soft, a kind of twitter. Should the nest be disturbed
before the young are hatched, or if the eggs are handled,
it is usually deserted by the birds. The chicks are able to
fly a little almost as soon as they emerge from the ^^%,
and (except in the northern part of the birds' dispersion)
when they are a few weeks old the male assumes the en-
tire charge of his little family, and the female begins to lay
again her second complement of eggs, which, as a rule,
does not average as large a number as the first. In the
north one brood is generally all that is raised. The
chicks are fed by the parents on insects, but, hke all
young gallinaceous birds, they are constantly in motion
and pick at everything, trying this and that small object
with great and ceaseless industry, and they soon begin
to swallow seeds, grains of dififerent sorts, and berries.
As they grow older they become habituated to the usual
food of the adults, which consists of grain of all kinds,
especially buckwheat, of which this bird is particularly
fond, wild pease, and the seeds of various plants, with
berries, when there are any. Quail will also eat grapes,
small acorns, and beech-nuts. The parents lead their
brood to the stubbles and pick up the grain that had
been dropped during the harvest of the previous sum-
mer, and return at night to the thickets for conceal-
ment and protection. They usually visit the fields in the
early morning and again in the afternoon, but late in
the year, if the weather is cold, they frequently pass the
entire day in the open, huddled together after feeding,
basking in the comfortable warmth of the sun's rays.

The young attain their full growth in the autumn, the
period varying according as the spring has been favora-
ble or not for incubation, as sometimes the winter
Hngers so late as to prevent the nesting season from

24 GAME BIRDS OF NORTH AMERICA.

beginning as early as usual; but from September in the
South to November in the North the broods have become
indistinguishable from their parents. Of course there
are exceptions to this, and the first brood may have
been hatched late, or the second brood delayed for some
cause. I have met young birds unable to fly any dis-
tance and covered with pin-feathers as late as the last
of November and beginning of December. Quail are
affectionate birds, and each little family keeps always
together, no member ever leaving the main body unless
under compulsion, and then is very restless and unhappy
until it has regained its companions.

When flushed the birds rise in a bunch, with a resound-
ing whir of the rapidly moving wings, very disturbing
to the young sportsman, and fly usually together in
a straight line, and alight all at once not far from each
other, when they lie close and motionless, permitting
the sportsman to flush them singly. If disturbed more
than once they then become widely scattered, occasionally
alighting in trees, and seek the deepest thickets and most
impenetrable places they can find. After they have
remained unmolested for some considerable time they
begin to move, and some little brown clump or tuft will
stir and disclose a bird, its bright black eye glancing
in every direction, the little creature all alert to every
sound and motion. It gathers confidence in the stillness
of its retreat, and gently utters a low Quoi-i-hee and
listens. No response is heard, and again the same call
is uttered, perhaps a little louder, and this time a similar
faint cry comes in reply. Our little friend takes a few
steps in the direction of the sound and calls again, and
now from various parts of the field and thicket comes
the cry Quoi-i-hee, quoi-i-hee, until, guided by their
voices, the little band is again united, and their plaintive

BOB WHITE. 25

notes are heard no more, as they wander away to safer
feeding grounds or place of concealment and repose.

Where the birds are much hunted they become " edu-
cated," and whenever flushed fly at once to the densest
thicket in the vicinity, impenetrable perhaps to both man
and dog, and are safe. With such coveys one shot, as
they rise before the dog, is all that can be expected.
They exhibit their cunning in various ways. Some
bevies, if feeding well out in the field, will begin to run
toward cover as soon as a man or dog climbs over the
fence, and frequently reach a place of safety before the
dog has caught the scent and apprised his owner of
their presence. Or, they will feed near to the fence,
rarely going far from it, and slip into cover at the first
alarm. Little can be done with Quail so well *' edu-
cated " as these.

There is no member of the gallinaceous birds more
" game " than the brave little '' Bob White," and
none affords more diversion to the sportsman. The
autumn morning breaks clear and still, and the air is
crisp with the frosty breath of advancing winter as the
sportsman, accompanied by his well-trained dogs, starts
out for a battle with the Quail, to be waged with skill
and cunning on both sides, but with unequal results,
for against the pleasures of the chase, an ardent love of
which is inherent in man, we must place wounds and
death for the gallant birds. The dogs know as well as
their master what is to be the business of the day, and
as they express their delight with many a gambol and
queer contortion, are observant of every field, and fre-
quently toss up their heads and sniff the pure air as
though the well-known scent of wandering birds was
borne to their quivering nostrils. Soon the desired
place is reached and, with a wave of the hand, the dogs

2 6 GAME BIRDS OF NORTH A AT ERIC A.

are bidden to go forward. With a bound the fence is
cleared and, regularly as the working of some faultless
machine, the noble animals beat the fields on a gallop,
with heads carried high and nostrils open, crossing each
other's tracks at regular intervals. Suddenly one checks
himself and swings around halfway, and his pace is re-
duced to a walk, and with careful steps and head carried
on a line with his body he draws slowly forward, uncer-
tain as yet where the birds, whose strong scent has dis-
covered to him their presence, are located. Carefully
the dog moves on, and his tail, which had been beat-
ing his sides with rapid strokes, is straightened and
becomes rigid. His companion, who had overrun the
scent, not being so near, sees the careful movement, and,
knowing the cause, turns, and with equal care follows
the direction of his mate. The first dog has now reached
the vicinity of the bevy, and what a picture he presents
to his master's gaze! With crouching body and tail
rigid, one foreleg half raised and the paw turned back-
ward, eyes set in a stony gaze, a frowning brow, and jaws
half open, with the saliva dropping from his tongue as the
hot scent wells up into his sensitive nostrils, he seems as if
carved in stone, while behind him, afraid to move another
step, in a similar attitude, stands motionless his mate.
The sportsman moves forward and speaks in low tones
words of encouragement to his four-footed friends, but
the dogs stir not, and soon their master is close to the
leader, when from beneath his very nose, with a whir
like muffled drums, hurtling and jostling each other in
their headstrong flight, rises the bevy of full-grown birds.
At the sound of wings the dogs drop to the ground with
their heads on the outstretched paws, and the reports
of the gun ring out, stopping short some swift-flying
birds that fall inert and lifeless to the earth, while the

BOB WHITE. 27

unwounded ones seek the nearest places of safety. Fresh
cartridges inserted, at the snap of the barrels returning
to their place the dogs spring up, and, taking the dead
birds carefully in their mouths, bring them and place
them in the hands of their master. What lover of
the sports of the field but has witnessed some such
scene as I have so vainly tried to describe — a scene
stamped upon the memory to be recalled again and again
in the days when failing strength and numbered years
have necessitated that the old gun, the treasured com-
panion of many a happy day, be laid aside forever, and
the sports of the field be enjoyed only in the recollections
of the past!

In many localities where Quail were formerly abun-
dant they have become very scarce or quite extinct.
Various causes have brought about this undesirable state
of things, among which are the depredations committed
by their natural enemies of the air and forest ; but man is
the chief culprit, and by shooting the birds in and out of
season, murdering the half-grown young hardly able to
fly before him, and by catching whole bevies in snares and
traps of all descriptions, he has been most successful in
exterminating the race from many a favorable locality.
Fortunately, by introducing into such a barren spot birds
from other places where they are still abundant, the evil
may be remedied, for Quail soon accustom themselves
to new surroundings and multiply rapidly; but as the
population increases in the land, districts from which
new stock can be drawn will become fewer in num-
ber, and those places, where Bob White through man's
rapacity and foolishness has been exterminated, will
remain tenantless of the bravest game bird in the
land.

As an article of food the Quail is a very delicate and

28 GAME BIRDS OF NORTH AMERICA.

palatable morsel, but late in the winter the flesh is apt
to be dry and rather tasteless; while those birds which
are kept from year to year in enormous cold-storage
houses, and thousands of them are, have about as much
flavor as a chip of dried wood. It is a pity that those
cemeteries, at least for wild game, could not be broken
up and done away with.

Quail are in the habit of roosting in or near the same
spot so long as they remain in any one locality, and such
places can frequently be determined by the droppings
on the ground. When settling for the night they
arrange themselves in a circle, each bird close to his
fellow, and with all the tails inward. This method is
advantageous for the warmth derived from the close
contact of so many little bodies, and also if alarmed or
attacked during the night by any foe, each bird can
spring directly forward and take wing unimpeded by any
of his fellows. Of course the bevy becomes greatly scat-
tered, as each one goes away in a different direction.
In such a case they remain quiet until the day begins
to break, and then the Qiioi-i-hee will be heard re-
sounding from every side, as the birds gradually draw
together into a once more united family. Quail are able
to stand cold very well, provided food is abundant, but
when this is scarce and the winter severe, they suffer
greatly, and many a covey is frozen to death.

When the snow begins to fall they huddle close
together, and are frequently entirely covered with a white
mantle. If no crust is formed they easily break through,
but should they remain in their warm quarters until
the sun has partly melted the snow and it becomes frozen
again, they are unable to escape from their prison and
perish miserably. Many a covey has been found in such
a situation after the snow has melted in the spring, the

BOB WHITE. 29

birds huddled closely together in the position in which
the impenetrable drift had imprisoned them.

This species is credited by some with the power of
voluntarily withholding the natural scent of the body
on aHghting, after having been flushed. Certainly in-
stances are numerous, when the best dogs have been
brought to a place where the birds were seen to settle,
and although the ground was thoroughly covered in
every direction, nothing was found. And yet after a little
w^hile, if that same ground was beaten over, the dogs
would come to a point at every few moments and the
birds would flush, usually singly. Again it is not
unusual that when a bevy is followed immediately, when
the ground on which they settled was favorable, the birds
have been flushed without difficulty. If the scent was
voluntarily withheld it is natural to suppose that there
v.ould be no exception to the rule, and that it would
never be permitted to indicate the bird's presence after
it had been flushed and thoroughly alarmed. But the
instances when this is not the case are very numerous,
and have been experienced by every sportsman, and they
would seem to prove that the bird has not the power
to withhold this evidence of its presence at will. When
a bevy alights after having been flushed there are no
tell-tale footsteps to give notice to the keen nostrils of
the dog that any quail is near. Each bird, as it alights,
remains motionless in a compact mass, every feather
pressing close to the body, and occupying the smallest
space possible. Unless it is almost stepped upon by the
dog its presence would not likely be detected, for the
bird would not move unless trodden on, and naturally
there would be little or no scent from its body to betray
its position. But the instant a movement was made then
the tell-tale effluvia would escape, and the bird's locality

30 GAME BIRDS OF NORTH AMERICA.

be discovered. When they are readily found it may be
on account of one having stirred after ahghting, arud,
when flushed by the dog, the noise of the wings caused
the others to start or change their positions, and as any
movement would permit the scent to escape, they would
also be quickly discovered. I do not think it at all prob-
able the birds have any power over the natural scent of
their bodies, but its absence at times is probably caused
in some such way as that stated above.

COLINUS VIRGINIANUS.

Geographical Distribution. — Eastern United States from
Southern Ontario and Maine to the Gulf States, but not in Florida,
where it is represented by an allied race. West of the Mississippi
to South Dakota (possibly introduced in the last named State
from Florida), Missouri, and eastern Texas, Its range westward
is being gradually extended with the settlement of the country.
It has also been introduced into New Mexico, Colorado, Utah,
Idaho, and on the Pacific into California, Oregon, and Washing-
ton. Breeds everywhere in its range.

Adult Male. — Forehead and stripe over the eye, extending
down the side of the neck, white ; in some specimens, notably one
from Massachusetts before me, this stripe and the forehead are
buff, like the throat of the female. The upper side of this line is
bordered with black. Top of head and neck, chestnut, with black
interspersed on the former, and the feathers of the latter, with
white on the webs; the chestnut being confined to an arrow-shaped
mark at the tip, margined on either side with black. Sometimes
this mark is all black. The amount of white seen on the neck
varies greatly among individuals, and sometimes there is much
buff instead of white shown. Upper part of back, light chestnut ;
margin of webs of some feathers, blue-gray, vermiculated with
black and more or less conspicuous. Back, rump, and upper tail-
coverts varying from a grayish to a yellowish brown, blotched on
middle of the back with black, and with dark brown or black
triangular or arrow-headed markings along the shafts of the
feathers at their tips, and irregular narrow black bars across the

BOB WHITE. 31

webs. Wings, rufous or grayish, blotched with black like the back,
with buff edges on scapulars and inner secondaries forming a
continuous rather broad line down either side of the back. Pri-
maries, dark brown. Throat, white, a narrow black line under
the eye. Ear-coverts, chestnut, sometimes black ; a black ring
surrounds the white of the throat, commencing at ear-coverts.
Breast and under parts, white or buffy white, crossed with
irregular narrow black lines. Flank feathers, rich chestnut, with
white edges barred with black. Some specimens have a band of
chestnut across the breast beneath the black ring. Vent, white.
Under tail-coverts, varying from pale to deep chestnut, with
white on webs near their tips and a V-shaped black mark, but
this last is sometimes absent. Tail, bluish-gray, sometimes ver-
miculated with black or brown near tips. Bill black. Legs and
feet yellowish brown. Total length about 9^ inches; wing, 4I ;
tail, 2f ; tarsus, \\ ; bill, f.

There is much individual variation in the markings of Quail,
although they may have a close general resemblance to each
other, and birds from different sections of the United States, not
inhabited by subspecies, present numerous differences both in
color and style of markings. But this is only what may be
expected when a species is scattered over so large a portion of the
continent as is this one, and subjected to such a variety of climate
as is experienced within the boundaries of its distribution. The
above description will, however, answer for the average style of
" Bob White " generally met with.

Adult Female. — There is not any especial difference in the
plumage of the sexes, but the female can always be recognized
by the buff stripe over the eye, and the buff throat. In other
respects she closely resembles the male, and has about the same
dimensions as are given above for him.

Downy Young. — Head, buff, with a chestnut line on forehead
broadening to a patch on occiput. A black line behind the eye,
and a spot of the same color at the corner of the mouth. Upper
parts, chestnut ; lower parts, grayish buff, brownish on sides.

THE FLORIDA BOB WHITE.

n^HIS is a small, dark race of the common Bob White,
and is found throughout Florida, save possibly the
extreme southern portions. It was formerly very abun-
dant, and is still in some parts of the State, but frorp
man's persecutions and indiscriminate slaughter the birds
have, in many districts, been greatly reduced in numbers.
It is a very tame and confiding little creature and, Hke
its Northern relative, prefers to live in the vicinity of
man's habitations, and rarely leaves the locality in which
it was hatched. It keeps to the open woods or cultivated
grounds in the neighborhood of clumps of bushes or
thickets of various sorts, into which it can escape from
its pursuers. The nesting season in some localities be-
gins very early, sometimes by the middle of February,
but probably April is the month when incubation gen-
erally commences, and young birds have been met with
early in July. Two broods are raised in a season, and
the nest is placed in some retired spot hidden by a pal-
metto or by thick grass and weeds.

Their habits are the same as those of the Northern
bird, and they lie well before the dog, and have all the
game qualities of our familiar Bob White. The average
number of eggs is not so large as that found in the nests
of their relative, and from ten to fourteen may be con-
sidered the extremes, though sometimes many more
than the maximum given are obtained. They resemble
in every respect those of Bob White.

On account of the number of broods each pair will

33

r;-.

ylFi^win, ^Ke|>ljaviV ,

Copyrighted by Francis P. Harper, /sy:.

2. Florida Bob White.

THE FLORIDA BOB WHITE. 33

raise in a season, and their considerable size, there is
no reason why this bird should not be abundant in all
the districts in which it is found, affording food and sport
for multitudes of people. But so long as each person is
permitted to do with them as seemeth good in his own
eyes, the time cannot be far distant when it will become
scarce in many parts of Florida and extinct in some.
The winter brings many men to the State who hunt with-
out ceasing, and this little bird is one of the chief objects
they seek. The same covey is followed day after day until
jnly two or three, or perhaps no birds at all are left, and
then new localities are sought and fresh coveys decimated
or destroyed. The negroes also snare multitudes of
Quail, and on every occasion that offers take potshots
at a bevy huddled together on the ground. It cannot
therefore be surprising, that from man's legitimate and
illegitimate killing, in connection with that accomplished
by furred, feathered, and scaly foes, the lives of the
Florida Quail are constantly sacrificed, and the existence
of the race threatened. The food of this bird consists of
seeds and berries, and its notes are the same as those
of Bob White.

COLINUS VIRGINIANUS FLORIDANUS.

Geographical Distribution. — State of Florida.

Adult Male. — In its general markings this bird resembles its
relative " Bob White "of the Northern United States, but is very
much darker in all its coloration. The top of the head is almost
black, and the white under parts are barred irregularly with jet
black, and the chestnut flank feathers are marked on their outer
webs with white and jet black. Lower abdomen and vent, dusky
white barred with black. The back, wings, and tail are similar to
those of the typical style, but much darker in all the colors,
except perhaps the tail feathers, which are not much different in
hue from those of the Northern " Bob White." Throat and line

34 GAME BIRDS OF NORTH AMERICA.

over eye, pure white. Total length about 7f inches ; wing, 4f ;
tail, 2| ; tarsus, \\ ; bill, \.

It will be seen from the above that the Florida bird is both
darker and rather smaller than C. virginianus.

Adult Female. — In her coloring this sex of the Florida Quail
bears the same relation to the male as the hen of the Northern
"Bob White " does to him, and is arrayed in hues of various
shades, as much darker as those of the male Florida bird are
darker than those of the Virginian species. She has the buff
throat and stripe over the eye, and her dimensions are about the
same as those of the male.

Copyrighted by Francis P. Harper, iS07.

3. Texan Bob White.

TEXAN BOB WHITE.

C XCEPTING the Staked-Plains in the northwest part
^ of the State, this bird is a resident of the greater por-
tion of Texas, and grades in the east into the true Bob
White of the Atlantic States. It has a general resem-
blance to the Northern bird, but is lighter in color, and
the male has usually a pale cinnamon chestband beneath
the black collar. In habits it does not differ from Bob
White, and the notes and calls it utters are the same as
those of the common Quail. In most parts of the State
they are tame and unsuspicious, hardly taking the trouble
to get out of the way of approaching danger. The males
are pugnacious, though, and frequent battles occur be-
tween rivals for the affection of some shy female, who
all the time regards the combatants with seeming indif-
ference, as if not caring especially which one came ofiF
victorious.

The Texan Bob White is a bird of the lowlands,
not going above 2000 feet, and is very common in
the Rio Grande Valley, where it visits the ranches and
feeds about the buildings. On the open prairies, where
it is very numerous, it feeds on the seeds of the various
grasses, grain, berries, and different species of insects
from grasshoppers to ants, and, if alarmed, seeks to
hide in mesquito bushes and dense thickets. Two, some-
times three broods are raised in the season. The nest,
a slight cavity made in some thick grass and lined with
straws and arched over with the same, contains usually
from twelve to fifteen eggs, in shape and color no way

35

36 GAME BIRDS OF NORTH AMERICA.

different from those of the common Bob White. Occa-
sionally very much larger numbers are found in one nest,
but this is probably the production of more than one
hen. Eggs have been found in May, and again as late
as September, which would show that the entire summer
has been passed in hatching and tending the young.
Being so prolific, the wonder is not so much that the
birds are plentiful but rather that they are not more
numerous. This Quail, when flushed, rises with the usual
loud, whirring sound and flies in a straight line, and will
he close and well to the dog. When undisturbed, like
the northern Bob White, it takes flight quite noiselessly,
without any of the whirring made when suddenly
startled.

The Texan Bob White has many enemies, but proba-
bly none so formidable as the rattlesnake, numbers of
which are found in the country it inhabits. Whether
the serpent crawls slyly up to the bevy when feeding or
resting, or lies in ambush and strikes the luckless birds
when passing, I know not, having never caught one
in the act of making a meal of Quail, but whatever the
method be, it is a fact that these reptiles kill many; five
having been found at one time inside of a dead rattler.
Other enemies among the wild creatures also make them
their prey, and so their number is kept from becoming
too great.

COLINUS VIRGIN/ANUS TEXANUS.

Geographical Distribution. — Distributed throughout western
and southern Texas. In Mexico from Guadalajara in the west, to
Tamaulipas and Nuevo Leon in the south.

Adult i1/rt/<?.— With the general style of markings seen in the
Northern "Bob White "this bird is lighter in coloration, and has
a tinge of olive-gray prevailing over the upper surface, which is

TEXAN BOB WHITE. 37

not, as a general thing, blotched with black to any such extent.
The lines formed by outer edges of scapulars, tertials, and inner
secondaries are very pale buff, almost white, and the bars on the
feathers are in many cases of the same color. On the upper part
of breast, beneath the black that surrounds the white throat, is a
narrow pale cinnamon band, and the white of the rest of the
under parts is irregularly barred with jet black. Rest of plumage
like the Northern bird but paler. Total length about 9 inches ;
wing, 4i ; tail, 2| ; tarsus, i^ ; bill, \.

Adult Female. — General plumage marked like the male but
very pale in its general hues, in some specimens the lower back
and rump being a light olive-brown barred with buff. A band of
very pale cinnamon crosses upper part of breast, and the white
under parts are barred with dark brown. Line over eyes, pale
buff, and the throat also pale buff, becoming almost w^hite in the
center. Dimensions about the same as those of the male.

As in the other forms of "Bob White," there is considerable
variation among individuals of the Texan Quail, and a description
of one bird would not be equally accurate for all, but this form
can generally be distinguished by its pale colors and narrow
cinnamon breast band.

Young. — Top of head, rufous, with a black spot in the center,
and a narrow black line from behind the eye. Upper part and
wings, rufous, mottled with blackish brown feathers, streaked and
tipped with w^hite. Secondaries, pale brown, mottled with black-
ish brown on outer webs, and barred with buffy white and tipped
with same. Throat white. Breast, pale brown, streaked along
the shafts of the feathers with white and vermiculated on breast
with dark brown ; rest of under parts, whitish brown, faintly
barred in the flanks with darker brown. Bill, light horn color.

MASKED BOB WHITE.

^HIS singularly colored Quail is unlike any other
species inhabiting America north of Mexico. It is
found in southern Arizona, Sonora, and Mexico, espe-
cially in the district lying between the gulf coast of
Sonora and the Barboquivari range, and is abundant
between the last-named mountains and the Plomoso.
Mr. Herbert Brown of Tucson, Arizona, was the first
to obtain this bird within the limits of the United States,
and he says that it is found on the Sonoita Creek, about
sixty miles north of the Sonora line, and from the
Sonoita Valley it ranges in a westerly direction within
Arizona Territory for a hundred miles through a strip
of country not thirty miles wide. In a wild state this
Quail does not appear to be nearly so abundant in the
country it inhabits (at least on our side of the line), as
are the other species of quail that are indigenous to our
soil and inhabitants of the same States. The Masked
Quail found in Arizona are apparently but an overflow
across our border from the main body of birds in Sonora.
They are met with in the valley, on the table-lands,
and even as high as 6000 feet, two having been killed
at that elevation in the Huachuca Mountains, in a cafion
about fifteen miles north of the border; but nowhere can
they be considered abundant.

Although so totally different in appearance from our
common Bob White, the Masked Quail has a call note
which resembles exactly that of the Northern species and,
while uttering this, it perches on rocks, bushes, or other

38

./^^vwiiv, She^}j<

4. Masked Bob White.

MASKED BOB WHITE. 39

slight elevations. It has a second note, resembling Hoo-
we, which like the Quoi-i-hcc of Bob White, is uttered
when the birds are scattered and desirous of again
coming together. The habits of the two species are
very similar, and the present one feeds on insects of
various kinds, many sorts of seeds, and sometimes small
leaves. It is a very handsome bird, and in the sun the
breast of the male appears red and makes him a
very conspicuous object. The body is very plump and of
about the same size as Gambel's Quail. The eggs are
exactly like Bob White's in size, color, and shape, and
the nest is also a similar structure, a depression in the
ground hidden amid the grass, or in some retired equally
well-screened position, withdrawn from the prying eyes
of its enemies.

From having been taken at as lofty an elevation as
6000 feet, it would seem that this handsome species
was hardy and able to withstand quite severe weather,
and it might be a profitable bird to introduce in the
Northern States in those localities where the original
stock from various causes had disappeared. Until, how-
ever, they had become thoroughly acclimatized, the birds
would require considerable attention and care, especially
in severe winters and times of heavy snows.

COLIXUS R IDG W AVI.

Geographical Distribution. — Southern Arizona to Sonora,
Mexico.

Adult Male. — Head, black, mixed with chestnut on top, passing
into nearly all chestnut on occiput and hind-neck, the latter with
occasional spots of white. Upper part of back, chestnut, sparsely
mottled with black, but rest of upper parts and wings closely
barred with black and buff ; central tail feathers like the back,
remainder bluish gray slightly mottled with buff near the tips.

40 GAME BIRDS OF NORTH AMERICA.

White line over the eye ; sides of face and throat, jet black ;
entire rest of under parts, uniform cinnamon rufous ; bill, black ;
legs and feet pale brown. Total length, 8| inches ; wing, 4I
inches ; tail, 2f ; tarsus, i^ ; bill, ^.

Adult Female. — The female resembles very closely that of the
Texan Quail, but is much paler, especially on the upper parts,
which have a good deal of light buff markings in bars and mot-
tling. The wings are particularly noticeable for their pale color-
ing. The under parts are very much alike in the two birds, but the
present species has a narrower and paler cinnamon band on the
breast, and the bars on abdomen and upper breast are darker,
consequently more conspicuous. The buff throat is very pale in
the center and toward the chin. In dimensions the sexes are
about the same.

5. Mountain Partridge.

MOUNTAIN PARTRIDGE.

A LONG the western slopes of the Coast Ran^e in CaH-
^^ fornia and Oregon, the Hne of its habitat inchning
more to the eastward as it goes north, this beautiful bird
has a rather restricted dispersion, even in the States which
are its home. It has been introduced into the State of
Washington, and appears to have secured a permanent
foothold north of Seattle. A few crossed to the north of
the Columbia, but on the south bank of that river the
species has worked its way down as far as Astoria.

This Quail is rather abundant in the Willamette Valley,
Oregon, and common in certain parts of California, but
is very rare south of San Francisco, though it is occasion-
ally met with in flocks of the California Partridge. It
seeks moist districts and places where the rainfall is fre-
quent. It is a shy bird, not easily found, and the flock
runs along the ground for quite a distance before taking
wing, and then scatters in every direction. The male
has a kind of crowing note, and when a flock becomes
separated its members call to each other in tones similar
to the note of a hen turkey. This species is not very gre-
garious; that is to say, it goes in small companies of per-
haps twelve to twenty, but is never seen in such great
congregations as those in which the California Partridge
is accustomed to assemble. The female calls her brood
by clucking like the common hen, and the little creatures
are great adepts at hiding on the least approach of danger.
The food of the Mountain Partridge is like that of all its
relatives, seeds and insects of various kinds, and it some-

41

42 GAME BIRDS OF NORTH AMERICA.'

times approaches the farmers' buildings for the grain that
may be scattered about. Its flesh is very palatable, and
many are sold in the markets of the cities on the Pacific
Coast, where I have frequently seen them hanging in
large bunches. Many are shot by sportsmen over dogs,
but more are taken, both alive and dead, in traps and
snares of many kinds. The nest is the usual slight
depression in the ground, hidden in the grass or under
bushes or logs, or anything that will afford the requisite
privacy and shelter, and the eggs, in number from eight
to perhaps a dozen, are ovate in shape, grading from a
pale cream to a rich bufif in color, and without spots. In
size they average, according to Bendire, 34.5 by 26 milli-
meters.

OREORTYX RICTUS.

Geographical Distribution. — From the Bay of San Francisco,
California, through Oregon and Washington. Introduced on
Vancouver Island.

Adult Male. — Top of head, sides of neck and breast, plumbe-
ous ; entire upper parts, upper tail-coverts, and wings, deep
olive-brown, in some specimens with a rufous tinge, especially
upon the wings ; crest of lengthened straight feathers, black ;
chin, white ; entire throat, rich chestnut, bordered on the sides
with black, and separated from the olive ear-coverts and bluish
neck by a conspicuous white line ; a white spot behind the eye ;
flanks, deep chestnut, broadly barred with black and white, the
latter widest and most conspicuous ; middle of belly, white ;
under tail-coverts black, the feathers with a central line of deep
chestnut ; tail, olive-brown, mottled with black ; inner edges
of tertials broadly marked with ochraceous, forming a line on each
side of the rump ; bill, black. Total length about 10 inches,
wing, 5| ; tail, 3^ ; tarsus, i| ; bill on culmen, f.

There seems to be considerable variation in the color of the
inner edges of the tertials, some birds having them white tinged
with deep buff or ochraceous, and this is confined mainly toward
the tips of the feathers ; while in others the white portion is more

MOUNTAIN PARTRIDGE. 43

or less suffused with ochraceous, and I am inclined to think it is
rather unusual to find examples with these lines entirely buff or
ochraceous. My examination of specimens seems to show that
there is always more or less white visible, and that the buff rarely
is the dominant color.

Adult Female. — Birds of this sex have little to distinguish
them from the males, but the crest is shorter ; in color of plumage
there is hardly any noticeable difference.

PLUMED PARTRIDGE.

I TNLIKE its relative the Mountain Partridge, which it
closely resembles, this species only approaches the
seacoast in the southern parts of its range, but is essen-
tially a bird of the drier regions of the interior, and a
dweller of the mountains; and the name of '' Mountain
Partridge " would be much more applicable to it than
it is to the one living to the westward of its habitat. It
is found on both sides of the Sierra Nevada in eastern
Oregon, and southward to northern Lower California.
It ascends high upon the mountains, having been met
with at an altitude of 7000 feet in the Sierra Nevada,
and Bendire found it on Mount Kearsage in Inyo
County, California, at an elevation of 10,000 feet. The
most easterly point of its range is the Argus Moun-
tains in southeastern California, where Dr. Fisher met
with it. In winter it descends toward the valleys and
passes this inclement season in a milder climate, but
on the return of spring travels upward again, often not
stopping until the snow line is reached. It is shy like the
Mountain Partridge, so called, and like it goes in small
coveys, and escapes by running, if possible, rather than
trusting to its wings. This is the inveterate habit of all
the plumed and crested Partridges, lessening very much
the sport of hunting them, very trying to the human, and
perfectly exasperating and bewildering to the dog. In
spring the male utters a loud clear call, something like
Pheii-i-e, Pheu-i-c, while mounted upon some stump
or rock, and the mating season commences about April.

44

6. Plumed Partridge,

PLUMED PARTRIDGE. 45

The nest, a slightly contrived affair, is placed in some
well-concealed spot on the ground, and the bird lays
about the same number of eggs as the Mountain Par-
tridge. These are smooth and glossy, varying from a
pale cream to a reddish-buff in color, and are without
any spots. In size they average about the same as those
of the last species.

The Plumed Partridge is a beautiful bird, one of
the largest members of the Tribe, and with its long
upright slender plumes decorating the head, and its
strong contrasting hues, presents a very handsome and
gallant appearance. Although resembling very closely
in coloration the Mountain Partridge, it can be distin-
guished by its hind-neck, which has the same plumbeous
color as the breast, while its relative has this part olive-
brown or umber. By some, however, the two forms are
not considered even as subspecifically distinct, but as
their habitats can be fairly well defined, it would seem
best to recognize the two races. When alarmed this
bird utters a sharp quick note like '' quit " several times
repeated; and evinces the same anxiety and solicitude
for its young as do other members of the Family by
feigning lameness and inability to fly, uttering all the
time a shrill, plaintive cry. While the old bird is thus en-
deavoring to draw the intruder away, the young are
busily taking care of themselves, scattering in all direc-
tions and hiding under leaves or in bushes, where they
squat and remain motionless, effectually concealed by
their close resemblance in color to the surrounding ob-
jects. Their food consists of insects, seeds, buds, and
leaves of various plants, and grain if obtainable.

46 GAME BIRDS OF NORTH AMERICA.

OREORTYX P ICTUS PLUMIFERUS.

Geographical Distribution. — Both sides of the Sierra Nevada,
and in eastern Oregon and to the Panamint Mountains and
Mount Magruder, Nevada. In California from San Francisco
Bay to the Argus Mountains.

Adult Male. — Forehead and chin, white ; head, hind-neck,
upper part of back and breast, plumbeous ; long black crest from
occiput ; throat, deep chestnut, bordered on sides with black, out-
side of which is a line of white ; wings, back, and upper tail-
coverts, grayish olive ; flanks, deep chestnut, barred broadly with
white, beneath which is a narrow black bar ; abdomen, chestnut I
under tail-coverts black, the feathers having a central line of
deep chestnut ; inner edges of tertials, narrowly lined with white,
forming two lines on back ; dimensions about the same as those
of the O. pictus.

There is no particular difference in the coloring of the sexes,
and the female is recognizable chiefly by her shorter crest.

San Pedro Partridge.

SAN PEDRO PARTRIDGE.

f HAVE never seen this bird alive. Its range appears
* to be restricted to the San Pedro Mountains, Lower
Cahfornia, where it is found from the foothills to the tops
of the loftiest peaks, estimated to be over 12,000 feet in
height. The discoverer of this race, Mr. Anthony, writes
to Captain Bendire that it is not common below 2500
feet of elevation, that the call notes are a soft, far-reaching
" Chay chay," like the notes of a flute in sweetness. The
alarm note was a soft " ch-ch-ch-e-e-ea, ch-e-e-ea," which
increased with the appearance of danger to a harder
** kee-ke-ea," and this last cry is taken up by every mem-
ber of the covey as they draw away. When taking wing
a loud " pit pit " is often heard. In his remarks on this
race, Mr. Anthony says he found this bird quite abun-
dant from 6000 to 10,000 feet above the sea, occurring
wherever water and timber afforded it drink and shelter
(" seeking the shelter of the manzanitas, from whence
their clear, mellow notes were heard morning and even-
ing, so suggestive of cool brooks and rustling pines, but
so out of place in the hot, barren hills of that region ")•

Flocks wintered around this camp at Valladores, six
miles from the base of the range at an elevation of 2500
feet, and a few pair bred there, but by March nearly all
had disappeared, moving higher up the mountains. The
nest was a mere hollow under a manzanita bush, and
filled with dry leaves of the lilac and manzanita, and the
eggs are creamy white and unspotted.

47

48 GAME BIRDS OF NORTH AMERICA.

OREORTYX P ICTUS CON FIN IS.

Geographical Distribution. — " Mountains of San Pedro range,
Lower California, reaching to valleys in winter." — Anthony.

Adult Male. — " Back wings and tail, ashy brown with slight
olive wash ; inner secondaries and tertials bordered with
white, forming, when wings are closed, two parallel bars of white;
foreparts above and below, slaty blue, slightly grayer above;
belly, rich chestnut, banded on the sides with bars of white and
black ; flanks, rufous ; tibia, ashy ; crissum, velvety black,
streaked with chestnut ; throat, chestnut, bordered laterally
with a narrow black line, which in turn is bordered with white ;
a white mask surrounding the bill and changing to grayish on
forehead. Arrow plumes black." — Anthony.

^^S^v

Aclwox- bl\e|)L)af<l.-

8. Scaled Partridge.

SCALED PARTRIDGE.

C CALED Partridge, Blue, White Top-Knot, and White
*^ Crested Quail, by all of which names this species is
known, is found from western Texas, through New
Mexico to southern Arizona in the United States, and
also south into northern Mexico. North and east of
the White and Mogallon mountains it does not seem
to go, while Fanin County, Texas, and the Colorado
River in Arizona, are the eastern and western limits of its
dispersion within our boundaries. My experience with
this beautiful bird has been gained in New Mexico, in
the southern portions, on the mesas lying near the Mo-
gallon Mountains, and westward into Arizona. It does
not frequent timber, but dwells in the open, on the high
plateaus, where the cactus grows, and for this reason it
is sometimes known as the Cactus Quail. It seems to
be independent of water, and frequents dry and sandy
districts, where vegetation is exceedingly sparse, indeed
almost absent, and where there is nothing to shelter it
either from the heat or its enemies, save a few clumps of
cacti, yuccas, and similar stunted plants, scattered over
the plain; and the more spiny and thorny the bushes
the more the Blue Quail loves to frequent them.

This species goes in flocks sometimes of considerable
size, several broods probably joining together, and I have
always found them exceedingly shy and wary, commenc-
ing to run as soon as my presence was discovered. They
usually went in Indian file, following some one bird that

49

5© GAME BIRDS OF NORTH AMERICA.

appeared to act as a leader, though occasionally in their
haste the main body would overtake him, and then for
a space they would continue on bunched up all together,
gradually straggling out again into a long line. The
body was held very erect and stiff while running, the tail
almost touching the ground, and the white crest was
spread out in a fan shape, showing very conspicuously.
This bird runs with great speed, and seems to be able to
keep it up for a long distance, and flies with much reluc-
tance, alighting almost immediately and beginning to run
at once. When compelled to take wing, it rises with the
usual u^hir-r-r, and proceeds on a slightly curved line,
rarely straight ahead, and if, on alighting, it should stop
for a moment, it is always under the cover of some cactus
or other low bush, which affords a place of concealment,
and from which it can watch its pursuer, before starting
to run again.

A dog is practically useless for hunting the Scaled
Partridge, for if he is well broken and attempts to point a
covey, the birds will run several hundred yards while he
is standing, and then will add several hundred more,
while he is trailing them, and the poor animal becomes
bewildered and disgusted and is apt to run also. I know
nothing so trying to the patience of a sportsman as the
tactics of this species, unless it be the similar habits of
other Crested Quail. As a rule this species was not very
much hunted in the localities I met with it, and it always
seemed to me rather singular that they should be so
wary, for that is an attribute that wild creatures usually
acquire after having made the acquaintance of man and
learned that his presence always brought wounds and
death, and that safety to themselves was only to be ob-
tained by leaving his vicinity as soon as possible. But
these birds seem instinctively to have ascertained this

SCALED PARTRIDGE. 5 1

fact before they ever saw a human being, and decamp at
once whenever a man appears.

This Partridge is a dweller of high table-lands and is
found at an altitude of 6000 to 7000 feet, and subsists
mainly upon various kinds of small seeds, grain if any is
grown in the vicinity, berries, buds or tender parts of
plants, and insects of different kinds. When alarmed it
utters a curious low hoom-\\\i^ sound, at other times
a short, quick note, difficult to indicate by letters. There
is no difference in the plumage of the sexes, the female
being as gayly clad as the male, and in this respect the
species constitutes an exception among the other varie-
ties of Partridge inhabiting the United States, for in all of
these, the females are rather differently arrayed from the
males, with conspicuous markings indicating their sex.
The nesting season begins about May, and generally two
broods are raised, and sometimes even three. The
slightly formed nest is placed on the ground under some
sheltering bush, or in a corn, or other grain field, in alfalfa
grass, and sometimes in potato fields. The eggs, in num-
ber usually about a dozen, vary from creamy white to
pale buff in color, and are covered with various-sized red-
dish brown or fawn-colored spots, regularly distributed
over the shell. Sometimes these spots are so small that
they are barely distinguishable. The shape is subpyri-
form. This species seems to prefer to make its nest on
the upper mesas, even among the foothills of the moun-
tain ranges, returning in winter, if the weather is severe,
to the lower lands and river bottoms. I have never met
the coveys in thickets, or amid underbrush, or in timber
even if very open, but it is evidently a bird of the treeless
country and cacti-covered plains. Doubtless, like many
another species, its habits vary in different localities, and
it suits itself to its surroundings. If by chance Gambel's

52 GAME BIRDS OF NORTH AMERICA.

Partridge should inhabit the same district as the Scaled
Partridge, the two species associate together apparently
on most amicable terms, but the kind of ground each
prefers is usually of so different a character that they are
not often found together. The Blue Partridge is a hand-
some bird and attractive in spite of its unsportsmanlike
habits, the markings of its plumage causing it to appear
as if covered with imbricated scales, a rather unique dress
among its brethren.

CALLIPEPLA SQUAMATA.

Geographical Distributton.—^esiQvn Texas, New Mexico,
and Southern Arizona. Valley of Mexico.

Adult. — Head, brown or brownish gray, varying in depth of
hue among individuals ; tip of crest, white ; throat, pale buff.
Hind-neck, upper parts of back and breast, bluish gray, each
feather bordered with black, giving the plumage a scaly appear-
ance ; scapulars, wings, lower back, and rump, pale brown;
upper tail-coverts and tail, bluish gray; flanks, bluish gray,
streaked with white; rest of lower parts, pale buff; feathers, mar-
gined with blackish brown; bill, black. Total length, 9^ inches;
wing, 5 ; tail, \\ ; tarsus, i|. There is no difference whatever
in the coloring of the plumage in the sexes, and males and
females are indistinguishable except by dissection.

9- Chestnut-Bellied Scaled Partridge.

CHESTNUT-BELLIED SCALED PARTRIDGE.

'^HIS subspecies, at times indifferently distinguishable
from the Scaled Partridge, has a very restricted
range, being found within our limits only in the lower
Rio Grande \^alley, in Texas, and across the border in
eastern Mexico. Among the foothills of the Rio Grande,
about one hundred miles from the coast, as stated by my
friend IMr. Geo. B. Sennett, is the eastern limit of this
bird. In its habits, selection of food, and character of
the country it dwells in, it closely resembles the Scaled
Partridge. Some specimens are strongly and broadly
marked with chestnut on the belly, this at times being
very dark in color; but this varies greatly, both in hue
and in the space it covers, until some individuals are met
with that are very difficult to assign to either the species
or the race. They grade in a large series of examples,
directly from one to the other, so as to make it impossible
to say where one form begins and the other ends. This
bird raises two broods in a season and commences to lay
as early as March, depositing from twelve to twenty eggs
in a slight cavity in the ground scraped out under some
thick bushes or clump of grass, and Hned with grass.
The eggs vary from a pale creamy white to a rich buff,
covered all over with reddish brown spots, from the size
of a pin's head to a considerable blotch. There is great
variation in both color and markings, and it is very diffi-
cult, if not impossible, at times to distinguish those be-
longing to the two forms apart.

53

54 GAME BIRDS OF NORTH AMERICA.

CALLIPEPLA SQUAMATA CASTANEIGASTRA.

Geographical Distribution. — Lower Rio Grande Valley, Texas,
Northeastern Mexico.

Adult. — Head, brownish gray, darker than that of C. squa-
mata, and the throat is also a darker buff; the blue of the breast
and back is more of a decided tint, as is also the brown of the
wings and lower back; lower parts, dark buff, ochraceous in some
specimens, wath a more or less extensive patch of rusty chestnut
on the belly; upper tail-coverts and tail, bluish gray; there is
more white on the crest, in certain examples, the feathers being
nearly all white; in general appearance this is a darker bird than
the typical style, but the chestnut patch varies greatly in extent
among individuals, being reduced at times to barely a trace, and
the two styles grade into each other by imperceptible degrees,
until it is impossible to designate where one ends and the other
begins; in size the two forms are about equal, and there is no
difference in the color of plumage or style of markings between
the sexes.

^ilwii\. ol\e ^jyciMl.

lo. California Partridge.

CALIFORNIA PARTRIDGE.

np HIS is the species found in the coast region of Cali-
* fornia, northward to Vancouver's Island, as sepa-
rated from its paler relative of the interior of Oregon,
southward to Cape St. Lucas.

It is a very handsome bird, perhaps not quite equal in
this respect to its beautiful cousin Gambel's Partridge,
with which the uninitiated frequently confound it, but
with this solitary exception no other species can dispute
successfully its claim to be the handsomest member of
the family.

It was not indigenous to the State of Washington, its
range not extending farther north than Oregon, but it
was introduced both there and in the islands of Puget
Sound, and also in Vancouver Island (where I met with
it), and has increased greatly in all these places. It is a
resident species, does not migrate, frequents cafions and
bushy hillsides, also fields, is often seen in enormous
flocks, as if many broods had united together, and runs
rapidly over the ground, preferring to escape if possible
by this method than to make use of its wings. These
great flocks or packs are only formed in the fall of the
year after the breeding season is over, and occasionally the
number of birds gathered together will amount to several
hundred, and they are then wilder than at other times.
In the spring these packs gradually break up, and the
birds commence to mate in March, if the winter has not
lingered longer than usual.

This species, like many others that have been persist-

55

56 GAME BIRDS OF NORTH AMERICA.

ently hunted and trapped, has greatly decreased in num-
ber in many lacaHties where it was formerly very abundant,
and the large packs mentioned above are not very often
seen at the present time, except in districts far removed
from towns or villages, in which every man carries a gun.
The average number of eggs in the nest is about fifteen,
and they have a creamy white, or bufif ground color,
minutely dotted or blotched with chestnut-brown, olive-
gray, or pale rufous. The nest is almost always placed
on the ground, sometimes without any attempt at con-
cealment, but usually under some log or bush, or close
to a stump. Instances are known, however, where this
species has nested in trees at no great height from the
ground. Incubation is carried on for about three weeks,
and the young run as soon as hatched.

The California Partridge is naturally of a tame and
confiding disposition, and, when not molested, will ap-
proach farm buildings and remain near the dwellings
feeding among the poultry, but, when much hunted, soon
becomes wild and wary, shunning man and all his belong-
ings. The food consists of seeds, berries, and tender
plants, and various insects, and it is upon these last that
the chicks are usually fed. The male does not assist the
females in incubating the eggs, but mounts guard close
at hand, and utters his call note at intervals. The old
birds tend the young carefully, and are very watchful of
any danger threatening their chicks, which at the first
note of warning scatter in all directions and hide under
anything that will afYord a cover, from a dried leaf to a
log or bush, and if nothing of the kind is at hand, will
squat upon the ground, remaining motionless until the
cause of their fear has departed.

CALIFORNIA PARTRIDGE. 57

LOPHORTYX CALIFORNICUS.

Geographical Distribution. — California coast region, as far
south as Monterey. Introduced into Oregon, Washington, and
British Columbia.

Adult Male. — Forehead, buff; shafts of feathers, black; occiput,
dark chestnut bordered anteriorly, and on the sides with black,
followed by a line of pure white; line from bill to eye, white;
chin and throat, jet black, bordered all around from behind the
eye with white, which is again margined narrowly with black;
back of neck and upper part of back, blue, the feathers
margined with black and a minute bluish white spot at tip;
entire upper parts, deep smoke brown; the inner edge of tertials,
deep buff or ochraceous, forming two conspicuous lines; some-
times the outer edges of the secondaries are margined with
ochraceous; primaries, dark brown; breast, deep blue; belly, deep
buff, the feathers margined with black; flanks, smoke brown,
streaked with white; abdomen, dark chestnut, the feathers with
black margins; vent and under tail-coverts, deep buff, with broad
central streaks of dark brown; bill, black; crest, black, very nar-
row at the base, widening out and curving forward at the tip; all
the feathers, of which there are about six, inclosed bet\veen the
webs of the anterior plume. Total length of bird, lo inches;
wing, 41; tail, 4; tarsus, i^; bill, \.

Adult Female. — With certain resemblances to the male, the
female differs in having a shorter, chestnut brown crest; head,
smoky gray without white or black markings; no chestnut patch
on abdomen, and the scaly markings less pronounced; otherwise
she resembles the male, the colors, however, being less clear
and more subdued.

VALLEY PARTRIDGE.

pALER in color than its relative of the coast, the
* present race inhabits the interior of Oregon, Nevada,
and California as far to the southward as Cape St. Lucas,
frequents the valleys and foothills of the mountains, and
ascending the latter in Lower California to an elevation
of about 8000 or 9000 feet. It is found on both slopes of
the Sierra Nevada, and goes east to Death Valley, and
along the Mojave River until it reaches the western hmits
of Gambel's Partridge. In the upper part of the Willa-
mette Valley, Oregon, it is abundant, but in the lower
part is supplanted by the California Partridge. It has
been introduced into Utah, and flourished there in all
suitable localities. It withstands cold very well, for Ben-
dire states (Life Hist. N. Am. B. p. 27), that in the upper
Klamath Valley, Oregon, he found a small covey,
which passed successfully through the winter of 1882,
though the thermometer registered more than once con-
siderably below zero, and the next spring there were two
coveys of half-grown birds. In Lower California very
dry seasons occasionally occur, and it is a rather singular
fact, and this has been proved by several careful
observers, that during such periods the Valley Quail do
not breed, but the large flocks that are formed during the
autumn remain unbroken all summer. The cause of this
curious condition of affairs may be the scarcity of seeds
and tender grasses, which from lack of moisture have not
appeared in the customary abundance. However, if the
winter rainfall has been of the usual quantity, then the

58

^ <Vwi IV ^ K I

II. Valley Partridge.

VALLEY PARTRIDGE. 59

coveys break up in March, and mating begins. This fact
is a very remarkable one, as it shows the suppression of
the amatory instinct (we can hardly imagine at the will
of the bird), at a time when, if it was allowed to have its
usual sway with the consequent result, the probability
would be that the young would perish from lack of food.
But it would seem that the birds' volition had nothing
to do with the case, for, as Mr. Anthony states (in a let-
ter to Captain Bendire given in the work already cited),
individuals obtained by him in April, May, and June,
during one of these dry seasons, exhibited but a very
slight development of the ovaries. The nesting season
begins in March, perhaps a little later in the northern
portion of its habitat, and the males at this time are very
pugnacious, and frequent battles occur among them for
the possession of some particular fair one. The chal-
lenge call of the male is clear and loud, and he also has a
low, tender note, which seems to be uttered solely for
the female, and resembles the syllables ah-hooh. The
nest is a very primitive affair; very often the eggs are
deposited on the bare ground, under some bush, log, or
by the side of a rock, or in similar situations as are
selected by the California Partridge, and the number,
coloring, and marking of the eggs are the same as those
of the species just named.

The habits and food of the two birds are very much
alike, as would be supposed, and the present race runs
as swiftly, exhibits the same unwillingness to lie before
a dog, takes to a tree or bush quickly, and evinces the
same indisposition to fly as is displayed by its relative.
If the flock is met suddenly, the birds utter a cry that
sounds very much as if they were trying to swear at the
intruder in Spanish, and many an angry ca-raho is
hurled at his head in earnest tones, as if the startled birds

6o GAME BIRDS OF NORTH AMERICA.

were indignantly warning the trespasser away from their
premises. This race is fond of frequenting thickets,
hedge-rows along the cultivated fields, and is naturally
tame and of a sociable disposition. This trustful nature,
however, is rapidly changed to one of suspicion and alarm
after the birds have had a short experience with their great
enemy man, and when that is the case his appearance is
announced by a sharp note, resembling pip-pip-pip,
and the flock is ofif on a quick run ending, if closely pur-
sued, in a short flight and a general scattering all over
the locality. As a game bird, to hunt with a dog, they
are very unsatisfactory and disappointing, in no way to
be compared to the brave little Bob White of the Eastern
States.

LOPHORTYX CALIFORNICUS VALLICOLA.

Geographical Distribution. — Interior of Oregon, California,
and Nevada, East to the Panamint Mountains, South to Cape
St. Lucas.

Adult Male. — In general appearance this bird resembles the
California Partridge; the pattern of markings and distribution of
colors being almost precisely similar, but there is a consistent
variation in the hues themselves; the color and markings of the
heads of the two forms are alike, and the crests are the same,
but the upper parts of the Valley Partridge are grayish brown, and
the inner margins of tertials are white; the belly is white or
buffy white, and the flanks grayish brown; it is altogether a
bluer or more grayish blue bird, and much lighter beneath when
contrasted with the typical styles; in size it equals the L. cali-
fornicus.

Adult Female. — Forehead, bluish gray; occiput, rusty brown;
crest, very short, snuff brown; in the color of the upper parts she
resembles the male, and the margins of the tertials are buffy
whjte ; throat, brownish white, streaked with darker brown;
breast, bluish gray, flanks, same color, streaked with white; lower
breast and abdomen, white, the feathers margined with black;
under tail-coverts, bronzy brown, margined with pale buff or

VALLEY PARTRIDGE. 6l

whitish; the female is conspicuous beneath by the amount of
white exhibited, and like the male she is lighter in color than the
corresponding sex of the typical form; there are no black or
white markings on the head.

Voting, Half Grown. — Forehead, bluish gray, streaked with
white ; feathers margined with black, rest of head on top, dark
rusty brown; short crest, rusty brown, black in center; back of
neck, bluish gray, vermiculated with light brown, rest of back
bluish gray, feathers margined with blackish brown; wings,
rusty brown, barred and vermiculated with black; sides of head
and throat, buff, streaked with bluish gray; breast pale bluish-
gray; rest of under parts, buffy white, indistinctly barred with
bluish gray; tail blue, barred and mottled on edge of webs with
black.

GAMBEL'S PARTRIDGE.

\A/HILE disputing the palm for beauty of dress and
gallant appearance with its relative the California
Partridge, the present species possesses all of the same
disagreeable traits when he is regarded in the light of
a game bird. In his legs does he trust, and the rocky
cafions and hillsides are his delight, and when met with
at the base of these often lofty and steeply ascending
cliffs, instead of flying as any well-mannered Quail would
do, he runs with all his might, leaping from stone to
stone, dodging behind one bowlder after another until
he becomes a mere speck above one, or disappears
altogether. The range of this handsome bird extends
from western Texas, through New Mexico and Arizona
to California, where it meets the Valley Partridge in San
Bernardino County, the Colorado desert proving an
effective barrier to its extension farther westward. It is
also found in southeastern Utah, and was introduced at
Fort Union in northern New Mexico. It also crosses
our southern border and is a resident of northwestern
Mexico. Any kind of a locality within its dispersion
seems to be perfectly satisfactory to this bird; whether it
be a dry and sandy stretch blistering in torrid heat, or a
place rocky and bare of leafy covering, or tracts hidden
by the densest and most impregnable thickets — they are
all the same to Gambel's Quail. From my experience,
however, in hunting them, I should say, if they had any
choice of locality it lay between dense clumps, matted
with vines and bristling with thorns, into and through

62

GAMBELS PARTRIDGE. 63

which nothing Hving could penetrate save themselves,
or mountain sides that ascend in a direct line and
which are covered with jagged stones and slippery bowl-
ders, over which the light-footed birds pass without
effort, stopping occasionally to look down and jeer at the
struggling, panting mortal below who is striving to con-
quer the ascent, and when the pursuer had arrived
at the summit, the Quail, it would be discovered,
had run to the edge of another canon, into which they
flew at the first appearance of the sportsman, and began
the ascent from below on the opposite side, leaving the
hunter gazing at them across the great gulf that rolled be-
tween. If there is another species of game bird more tan-
talizing and vexatious in its manners, and more utterly
lost to all the finer feelings that should compel it to con-
form to the recognized rules that govern field sports,
I happily do not know of it, and have no wish to meet
with it, if existing.

This species is dependent upon water, never going far
away from brook or spring, and its presence is a pretty
sure indication that a supply of the necessary fluid is near
at hand. Gambel's Quail is generally very abundant
in the localities it frequents, and the coveys of trim,
gay-looking birds are seen daily running about chas-
ing insects, dusting themselves in the roads or sandy
spots, and uttering all the while a soft low qucct or zvoeet.
When alarmed, they commence to run. following some
leader in outstretched line, or else in bunches when each
looks out for himself, dodging behind every bush and
stone, and generally striving to reach some dense thicket,
or some rocky hillside up which they climb with surpris-
ing rapidity. It is, at first, almost impossible to make
them take wing, and they will only fly when compelled to
do so by their pursuer appearing right among them.

64 GAME BIRDS OF NORTH AMERICA.

and then they proceed but a short distance before alight-
ing, and commence to run again. If the ground per-
mits the covey to be followed rapidly and continuously,
and the birds find that running is of no avail, they can
then be flushed, and they fly swiftly, generally on a level
about six or eight feet above the ground, but in a curving
direction, not straight forward for any distance, and if
the covey becomes well scattered the birds will some-
times lie well and flush singly; but this is exceptional,
and a state of affairs only arrived at by a long, persistent,
and fatiguing pursuit. I imagine that most of the birds
that are obtained by the gun are shot upon the ground.
Very unsportmanlike, but after one learns their tricks
and their manners the natural feeling of denunciation
against such a practice that is possessed by all lovers of
dog and gun, somehow does not seem to be so easily
aroused in those who have followed these birds for food
or recreation. If, however, the sportsman fails to obtain
either of these, there is one thing he does get without
stint — exercise.

Gambel's Partridge bears well great extremes of tem-
perature and is apparently quite as comfortable where
the thermometer indicates ioo° in the shade, as in
the keen, rarefied air that blows around the mountain
tops at an elevation of 8000 or 9000 feet. When the
heat is as great as that mentioned above, this species
seeks the bottoms of the canons, or the banks of the
creeks, and keeps in the shade of the dense thickets
usually found in such situations, or, as is frequently
the case, perches in the trees. This custom is habitual
to it, for it is quite an arboreal bird, taking refuge
on the branches of trees or bushes if suddenly
alarmed, or when the members of a flock become scat-
tered after having been compelled to take wing. The

GAM BEL S PARTRIDGE. 65

mating season commences quite early in the spring, say
the month of April, and the male presents a very hand-
some appearance as with erect body, dignified move-
ments, puffed-out feathers and trailing, trembling wings,
he moves sedately before the gaze of his shy lady-love.
She is a modestly attired little body, similar, but still quite
different in dress to her lord, lacking the strongly con-
trasting colors upon the head, and the great black patch
on the belly. The glossy, jet black, graceful plume of
many feathers that decorates the head of the male, open-
ing and closing, as his frequent changes of feelings exert
their influence, is in the female reduced to small propor-
tions, and dusky in hue.

The nest is simply a hollow scratched out in the soil,
sometimes lined with grass or leaves, and concealed
from view by tall grass, or by some overhanging bush,
or else hidden away amid the vegetation that springs up
in the dry beds of the creeks. In fact any spot that will
afford the necessary protection and concealment is taken
advantage of, and the eggs removed from the view of
prying enemies. Doubtless, however, many are taken by
reptiles such as snakes of various kinds, and even the Gila
Monster has been known to have made a meal on the
eggs of this species. The usual number found in a nest is
from twelve to fifteen; and these have a ground color
varying from a creamy white to a pale buff, irregularly
spotted and blotched with dark seal, sometimes almost
blackish, brown, drab, or rufous, all suffused with a
peculiar purplish bloom. Occasionally a nest is found
placed in a tree, or cactus, a few feet from the ground,
the bird, doubtless, having lost the eggs previously laid,
had sought a more secure refuge from her terrestrial foes.
The period of incubation extends to about four weeks,
and probably two broods are raised in a season. The

66 GAME BIRDS OF NORTH AMERICA.

birds do not seem to have any regular time to commence
laving, some being much later than others, and on this
account, and the number of broods raised, young or half-
grown birds are met with nearly throughout the entire
summer. The pretty little downy chicks run as soon as
hatched, and soon become exceedingly expert in hiding,
which they are quick to do at the warning chirp of the
mother, squatting close to the ground and remaining
absolutely motionless, or crawling under leaves, or any
shelter that is available. Danger past, at a cluck from
the anxious mother, who all the time has probably been
crouching near by, watching her brood, the chicks gather
around her, and are led to a more retired and secure
locality. When able to use their wings and fly with some
degree of freedom, the young take refuge in the trees
and perch on the branches, but as they grow older the
one particular habit they have inherited prevails over all
the rest, and their legs are depended upon for escape
more than upon any other means at their disposal, and
they run with considerable swiftness, only using the
wings as the last resort.

Gambel's Partridge has many enemies, foremost
among which is man, both white and red, who destroys
vast numbers both with gun and snares of various in-
genuity. Hawks, wolves, foxes, and other predatory
animals kill numbers, and doubtless many fall a prey to
rattlesnakes and other reptiles. Still if the species only
had to combat with its natural enemies, it would probably
be able to maintain itself in undiminished numbers, but
whenever man, especially Caucasian man, takes a hand
in destroying, the time of diminution and final extinction
of any wild creature is near at hand.

This Partridge has a number of calls, which it utters
at various times and on especial occasions, some of which

GAME ELS PARTRIDGE. * 67

are very difficult to represent on paper. At the com-
mencement of the pairing season it gives voice to a clear,
ringing note, usually uttered from some slight eminence,
which has been compared to the syllables yuk-kde-ja
by Captain Bendire and killink by Dr. Coues, each
syllable distinctly uttered and the last two somewhat
lengthened. These notes strike each hearer so differ-
ently that it is impossible to write them down and convey
to each the impression he has received. To me the three-
syllabled word given above more clearly describes the
note as it was heard by me, but doubtless many others
would recognize it better by the word of two syllables as
given by Dr. Coues. This note, or cry, is equivalent to
the Bob White of our Northern bird. The alarm note is
well indicated by Captain Bendire as crcicr, crdcr, fre-
quently repeated; a rasping, harsh sound, in uttering
which many members of a covey join. At other times,
when undisturbed, a soft pcct is heard, followed on
the slightest alarm by a sharp quit, succeeded by the
pattering of little feet upon the dry leaves as the covey
hurries away. It is a gentle, beautiful little creature, and
without Gambel's Partridge, with all its unsportsmanlike
ways, many an arid and rock-strewn district would be
deprived of its chief attraction.

LOPHORTYX GAM BELL

Geographical Dt'strtbutwn. — Western Texas, New Mexico, and
Arizona to San Bernardino County, California. Also in Southern
Utah and Nevada, and Northwestern Mexico.

Adult Male. — Top of head and nape, bright chestnut; forehead,
black, interspersed with grayish above the bill, and crossed by a
narrow white line between the eyes; a white stripe from behind
the eye to back of ear-coverts, bordered above with black; chin,
throat, and side of face beneath the eyes, black, bordered all

68 GAME BIRDS OF NORTH AMERICA.

around with white; back and sides of neck, lead color, each
feather narrowly bordered with brownish black; entire upper
parts, grayish blue, darkest on upper tail-coverts, where the
feathers are faintly margined with white; tail, pale blue; wings
like the back, but with a brownish tinge; the inner webs of the
tertials broadly margined with white, and the outer webs of those
nearest the primaries narrowly margined with yellowish white,
forming a horizontal bar when the wing is closed; primaries,
brown, grayish on the outer webs; upper part of breast, pale
blue; lower part to abdomen, bright buff; flanks, dark chestnut,
with a conspicuous white stripe along the shaft; abdomen, black,
flanked by bright buff feathers, with a white stripe in the center,
bordered with chestnut; vent and under tail-coverts, pale buff
with grayish brown central stripe tinged with chestnut ; an up-
right plume composed of five or six black feathers, curving for-
ward, and the webs turned backward, each overlapping the one
behind, rises from the forehead, sometimes bending over the
bill; bill, black; feet and legs, horn color. Total length, lo inches;
wings, 4f ; tail, \\\ bill, \\ legs, i^.

Adult Female. — Differs from the male in having the upper
parts tinged with olive-green; top of head, olive-brown; throat,
dark buff, streaked with bluish gray; upper part of breast, gray-
ish blue, rest of under parts pale buff, the feathers narrowly
margined with blackish chestnut; flanks, chestnut with central
white stripe ; under tail-coverts, bronzy brown, margined with
pale buff; wings as in the male, the tertials less conspicuously
margined with white; tail, purplish blue; a short brownish black
bunch of feathers rises from top of head, but does not bend for-
ward; bill, black; legs and feet, horn color. Total length, gf
inches; wing, 4f, tail, 4i; bill, \\ legs, i^.

13. Massena Partridge.

MASSENA PARTRIDGE.

1/ NOWN in the territories it frequents within our bor-
ders as the Black, Black-belHed, and Fool Quail, the
Massena Partridge is the most fantastically colored of all
the family to which it belongs, with a head striped and
marked like that of the clown in a pantomime. It is
however, a very handsome bird, though bizarre in its
pattern of coloration, and would attract attention wher-
ever seen. It ranges in more or less abundance from
western Texas in the vicinity of San Antonio, through
New Mexico, and into Arizona as far as Fort Whipple,
which is about its western limit. It has been observed
in the upper Rio Grande valley near Taos, and south of
our limits inhabits northwestern Mexico, ranging upon
the mountains at varying elevations of from 4000
to over 9000 feet. It seems to be more of a bird of the
hills than are most of the other species of Partridge,
and prefers the high mesas and valleys that lead up
into the lofty mountain ranges. In the United States
I do not think this Partridge can be called abundant
anywhere, and the localities in which it is found are
apparently restricted; whether or not on account of some
especial food it subsists upon I am unable to say. When
met with it is generally in small bunches, as if composed
of one family, and the birds are extremely gentle and
confiding, hardly moving out of the way of either man
or beast. At times this species seems to be entirely
insensible to fear, and when approached suddenly, either
squats down on the ground or walks a few steps to one

69

70 GAME BIRDS OF NORTH AMERICA.

side, sometimes merely standing perfectly still and re-
garding the intruder with a glance that may mean inquiry
or curiosity. It does not run like Gambel's and other
plumed Partridges, but if wishing to escape, and this
resolution is not often taken without considerable delib-
eration, a covey will rise with a whir and fly very rapidly
in a direct line; usually the birds uttering a clucking
note as they speed along. As a rule, they do not fiy
very far, but scatter and remain in the place where they
alight, and can then be flushed singly. In this respect
their habits are far superior from a sportsman's point of
view to those of the other Partridges that dwell in the
same countries. From its gentle disposition and apparent
unwillingness to move, frequently when almost trodden
upon, this bird has gained the sobriquet of " Fool Quail,"
and it has often been killed with a stick in the hands of
its pursuer. It may be that it is more numerous in
a locality than indications would warrant the supposition,
for, on account of its habit of crouching or remaining
motionless, a covey could easily escape unnoticed in the
grass, although the passer-by was but a very short dis-
tance away.

The Massena Partridge is fond of dusting itself in the
roads if there are any, or in sandy places, and when so
occupied does not resort to cover until closely ap-
proached. In summer they ascend high upon the moun-
tains, coming down, when snow begins to fall, to low
altitudes, and occasionally the birds breed at as lofty
an elevation as 7000 feet. Although I have never seen
the two species actually together, yet I have known
the Massena and Gambel's Partridge to occupy the same
district in winter, and it is not an unusual thing in New
Mexico to obtain both species in one afternoon by the
same gun. The reason that the Fool Quail is so con-

MASSENA PARTRIDGE. 7 1

fiding is probably that the waste places it frequents are
not much resorted to by man, and hence its acquaintance
with its chief enemy and destroyer has been of too
limited a character for it to acquire that shy and wild dis-
position a full knowledge of the ways and power of the
human biped always brings to every creature of the
woods and plains. It may be that in some places where
the Massena Partridge has been much hunted that it
is as wild and wary as are the other species of this group,
but wherever I have seen it, the birds have always pos-
sessed the gentle disposition already mentioned. So
far as I am aware it never goes in large flocks, but is
met with in small companies, and not infrequently three
or four birds only are seen together. It appears to be
as altogether different in its ways from other Partridges
as it is from them in general appearance. It is a plump
little bird, and has a manner of walking with a rounded
back and humped up body, and exhibits very little of
the elegance of form and gracefulness of carriage so char-
acteristic of Gambel's and the California Partridge, or
even the Blue Quail. But its fantastically colored head,
flanks dotted like the plumage of a guinea fowl, and short,
stumpy tail give to it an appearance peculiarly its own
and in no way approached by any other Partridge. The
nest is a hollow scratched out of the soil, lined with
grass, and hidden by the grass growing around, or else
placed under a bush or some dead limb lying near the
ground, surrounded by grass. The eggs are pure white,
very glossy, and about ten in number.

When there are any grain fields in the vicinity of its
habitat this Partridge will pick up the kernels lying
about, but its chief food, at least in certain localities,
seems to be small bulbous roots, and perhaps the re-
stricted area in which these are found may in a measure

72 GAME BIRDS OF NORTH AMERICA.

account for the bird's apparently scattered dispersion
in the districts it frequents. Its indolent ways would
seem to oflfer it a prey to any active animal, and doubt-
less it is easily secured by Hawks, Owls, and four-footed
depredators always on the watch for a toothsome morsel.
In some localities where, not long since, it was fairly
abundant, as in New Mexico in the vicinity of the Gila
River and around Silver City, it has now become scarce,
as it proved to be such an easy victim that the coveys
were soon decimated or quite exterminated, and unless its
disposition becomes greatly changed and it learns how
more effectually to protect itself from its enemies, it will
probably soon cease to exist after its habitats have been
invaded by those who shoot either for pleasure or profit.

CRYTONYX MONTEZUMA.

Geographzcal Distribiitioii. — Western Texas, New Mexico, and
Arizona. Table-lands of Mexico.

Adult Male. — Forehead, black; with white stripe passing
upward from nostril; top of head, pale brown, barred with black;
occiput, richer brown, unmarked, feathers forming a short thick
crest; rest of head, white, with a plumbeous stripe from angle
of mouth, extending in a curved line to beneath the ears, meet-
ing a broader line that crosses it at right angles, and extends
from above ears to the lower margin of the black throat; a
small triangular curved black patch beneath the eye; the
brown color of head is separated from the white b}'^ a nar-
row black line ; the white, on side, and fore-neck, is margined
beneath by a rather broad black band ; upper parts, reddish
brown, barred with black, and streaked with buff; secondaries,
pale purplish gray, spotted with black; primaries, dark brown,
the outer webs spotted with white; sides of breast and flanks,
dark plumbeous, almost black, spotted with white; line through
middle of breast, and the belly, dark chestnut; rest of under
parts and thighs, velvet}^ black; maxilla, black; mandible, black,
with yellowish spot on the side. Total length, 8f inches; wing,
5; tail, 2\\ tarsus, i:|:; bill, along culmen, f.

MASS EN A PARTRIDGE. 73

Adult Female. — General color, light pinkish cinnamon, upper
parts barred with black, more inclined to blotches, the bars fre-
quently close together in places, and streaked with buff; head,
without black or white stripes, barred on top and on crest with
black; throat, pinky white; a few black spots on flanks, and
lower parts of chest; abdomen and anal region, buff ; secondaries,
brownish black, barred with pale cinnamon; primaries, dark
brown, spotted with white on outer webs; maxilla, black; mandi-
ble, pale horn color; claws, horn color. Total length, 8f inches;
wing, 5; tail, 2\\ tarsus, \\. bill, along culmen, |.

Young, about Half Grown. — Similar on upper parts to the
female; throat and chin, pure white; under parts, brownish
white, spotted with blackish brown, and streaked with buffy
white; some black feathers appearing among the brown on the
anal region; top of head rich brown, barred with black, and
streaked with buffy white along the shaft ; wings, pinkish cinna-
mon, streaked with white, and occasional blackish bars across
the feathers; primaries, as in the adult. Bill, light horn color.

Downy Young. — Head, pale brown; becoming gradually
whitish on the throat, the occiput with a broad patch of chest-
nut; a blackish streak behind the eye; upper parts rusty brown-
ish, indistinctly spotted with dusky, the rump bordered along
each side by a whitish stripe; lower parts nearly uniform dull
white . — Rid g way.

RUFFED GROUSE.

npHIS well-known game bird, the Birch Partridge of
certain portions of the British Provinces, Partridge
of the Northern Atlantic States, and Pheasant of Virginia
and the more Southern States, is distributed throughout
the eastern portion of the Union from Massachusetts
to Georgia and westward in the wooded regions of Ohio,
Michigan, Wisconsin, and Minnesota to the Dakotas.
North of Massachusetts it intergrades with its subspecies,
the Canadian RufTed Grouse, and it is not always an
easy task to decide as to which form specimens obtained
within this range really belong. In the Southeastern
States it is confined mainly to the mountainous parts,
rarely descending into the valleys or lowlands.

The habits of this fine bird are pretty well known by
all lovers of dog and gun, and its wary nature, exceeding
cunning, and general ability to take very excellent care
of itself cause it to be regarded as one of the most thor-
oughly game members of the feathered race. The male
Grouse drums at all times in the year: in the spring
as a defiance to his rivals or as a call to the hens to come
and admire him as he struts in magnificent form upon
his chosen log; and in summer and autumn, or even
winter, as an indication of his lusty vigor and general
satisfaction with himself. The sound heard on these
occasions is like a deep muffled roll of a drum, even
likened by some persons to low thunder, and has a great
ventriloquial power. It is produced solely by the wings,
and these are not permitted to touch the body. The

74

^

c

^M

r>

RUFFED GROUSE. 75

cock, mounted upon some familiar log, which he has
probably occupied for the same purpose more than one
season, puffs out his feathers until he appears nearly
double the ordinary size, and with head drawn backwards,
tail fully expanded and spread over his back, the tufts
on either side of the neck raised and pushed forward, and
wings trailing on the bark, moves with a mincing, affected
gait along the fallen tree. Suddenly he throws his body
forward and stretches out his neck, and commences to
beat the air with his wings, but does not touch his flanks.
The beats are rather slow and spasmodic at first, and
then the strokes quicken, growing faster and faster every
moment, until the wings disappear, leaving to the eye
nothing but a rufous blur in their place. The muffled
tone, low at first, swells with the increased rapidity of the
beats until, in a loud, solemn roll, it is borne through
the neighboring woods. Suddenly the wings are stilled,
the roll ceases, and the noble bird raises himself erect
and listens intently, as if anticipating a reply; but as all
is quiet and the woods give forth no echoing sound or
answering challenge, he begins to strut again. There
has been no answer to the male's vigorous expression of
challenge or invitation, but if this action just described
was performed in the springtime it would be more than
likely that from out the recesses of a near-by thicket
some modest, demure hen would be watching and admir-
ing the pompous male as he executed the fantastic move-
ments of his haughty parade. Gaining courage at length
she steps from out her concealment and watches the
proud male, who, seeing the first member of his harem
has arrived, redoubles his efforts to make himself capti-
vating in the eyes of this fair one. Occasionally it is
quite another visitor that comes to the trysting place,
in the shape of a rival, and then between the lusty birds

76 GAME BIRDS OF NORTH AMERICA.

a desperate conflict ensues, wherein, perchance, some
blood and many feathers are scattered upon the ground.
Some beHeve that the Ruffed Grouse is not polygamous,
but I think all the evidence we have seems to prove that
it is, and that the male has many wives if he c^n get
them. He pays no attention to the brood and is never
seen with them, nor with the hen during the period of
incubation, and I believe she hides her nest from him
as well as from all her other enemies.

This bird inhabits dense thickets, swamps, clumps of
bushes, and similar situations affording concealment, and
prefers a hilly country or one strictly mountainous cov-
ered with timber, and is rarely seen in the open unless in
the vicinity of some leafy covert. It frequents the banks
of streams when overspread by bushes growing thickly
together, but also is found at times in rather open woods
with little or no undergrowth. When flushed this Grouse
rises with a tremendous whir, which can be heard for a
long distance and sounds not unhke a subdued roll of
thunder, and an inexperienced sportsman is apt to be
greatly flustrated by it and pretty sure to miss the bird,
no matter how fair a mark it presents. The flight is
extremely swift and powerful, and can be maintained
for a long way, and the bird exhibits wonderful dexterity
in threading the tangled brakes and by the unnumbered
trees and branches without touching any in his headlong
course. No little cunning is displayed also, that shows
the bird is wide-awake and anxious to provide for its
own safety, for as soon as it is on the wing it places some
tree or bush between it and its pursuer and keeps on,
as it flies, multiplying the obstacles for a successful shot.
It lies well to the dog, but when it flushes always darts
away from the side opposite to the sportsman, no matter
how advantageously he may think he has chosen his

RUFFED GROUSE. 77

position, and puts the first tree between the gun and its
body. Usually not many adult birds are found together,
five or six perhaps, rarely more, and they never rise all
at once, but two or possibly three together, followed by
the others singly. As the danger to themselves ap-
proaches nearer, occasionally a bird will lie so close that
it will permit the sportsman to pass it, and then suddenly
bursts away from behind him. I have never noticed any
apparent retention of the scent by this bird after alight-
ing, as is the case with Bob White, although I must
acknowledge that there have been times when, after care-
fully marking some spot where a Grouse was seen to
alight, it was impossible to find the bird, even after the
ground had been thoroughly gone over by good dogs.
Where they go to on such occasions is a mystery
which, however, only increases our admiration for their
cleverness.

The nest of the RufTed Grouse is merely a hollow
scratched in the ground, usually in well-concealed spots,
beneath some bush or log, or in a dense thicket, along-
side some overhanging rock, or in the tangled top of
some fallen tree or underbrush that lies matted together
in a confused mass several feet deep. Again it is some-
times placed in quite open situations without any attempt
at concealment whatever, showing a trusting and confid-
ing disposition rarely found in this bird unless in districts
where it is Tittle or never disturbed. The hollow is lined
with grass, leaves, needles from the pine tree, and similar
materials, distributed in a rather careless way, and, on
an average, perhaps ten eggs are deposited, of varying
shades of buf¥ dotted with different sized spots of a pale
reddish brown color. Incubation commences about the
beginning of May and lasts, generally, from three to four
weeks, the last being more nearly the correct time. The

78 GAME BIRDS OF NORTH AMERICA.

hen, neglected by the male, who is never seen near the
nest, is a very close sitter, and only leaves her eggs when
danger to herself is imminent, and even then declines
to go away to any distance, but loiters in the vicinity,
watching every movement of her enemy and returning
to her treasures at the first opportunity, even at times
taking the chances of being captured rather than leave
her charge too long uncared for.

As soon as they have broken through the shell the
young run about, comical little brown tufts of down, and
follow the mother, who teaches them to feed on insects
and worms, and it requires but little instruction before
they become adepts and, with much seeming curiosity,
try every object they meet with as if testing its edibility.
Their little wings are too feeble to bear them up, and
to escape from danger, which is indicated by the warning
shrill note of the hen, they skillfully hide under any
favorable object, or squat and remain motionless, and
so well do they harmonize with the color of the ground
or dead leaves that it is quite impossible to distinguish
them without a diligent search. At night the .mother
gathers them under her and covers them with her wings
in the manner of the domestic fowl, and protects them
from the dew and rain, for a wetting is a serious matter
to the chicks and is usually fatal. When about half
grown they all roost on trees, in which the young are
sure to take refuge if alarmed; but once perched on the
branches they seem to consider themselves as quite re-
moved from all danger, remaining motionless and gazing
earnestly at the intruder on their haunts. This must be
the result of an inherited instinct that teaches them to flee
from their ground enemies, from whom they are usually
safe when once among the branches of a tree, but .why
there should not be a similar instinct to bid them beware

RUFFED GROUSE. 79

of enemies of the air, such as Hawks and Owls, it is diffi-
cult to explain, unless it is on the principle of doing one
thing at a time, if it is to be done well. The adult Ruffed
Grouse feeds on various kinds of nuts, acorns, all sorts
of berries in their season (some of them even of the
poisonous kind, such as the sumach), and wild grapes,
and, when these fail, eats the foliage of many plants, such
as wintergreen, buttercup, partridge berry, etc. In the
winter the food consists mainly of buds of the apple, the
two birches, and other trees.

The males of this species keep apart after the breeding
season is over, joining the coveys toward winter. This
species bears the cold well, its feathered coat, carried
down the leg to the heel, affording ample protection
against the severity of the weather. When the snow
covers the ground, or during a snowstorm, this bird is
in the habit of diving headlong into the drifts toward
evening, where it remains frequently entirely covered up,
warm and snug, during the night, and flying out again
at daybreak. But if during the night a crust should
form upon the snow the poor Grouse is imprisoned and
frequently dies of hunger, as escape is impossible unless
a thaw speedily comes.

Its flesh, as is well known, is white and tender, but
in the late fall or winter becomes very bitter occasionally,
on account of the bird having fed on the leaves of the
alder, and to many persons is then quite poisonous. In
spite of the persistency with which this Grouse is hunted,
and the vast number yearly taken in snares, it is still
quite plentiful in many parts of its dipersion, and it
would be sad indeed if unbridled persecution and
avarice should ever cause its extermination, for then
would disappear one of the noblest game birds known
in our land.

8o GAME BIRDS OF NORTH AMERICA.

BON ASA UM BELL US.

Geographical Distribution. — Eastern United vStates and South-
ern Canada, from Massachusetts to Northern Georgia; Missis-
sippi and Arkansas, and westward to the Dakotas.

Adult Male. — Upper parts varied with yellowish brown and
gray, barred on head, neck, upper part of back and wings, with
black and rufous; lower part of back and rump gray, interspersed
with dark red, and ovate spots of pale buff, surrounded with
black; conspicuous, rather broad, streaks of buffy white on scapu-
lars and wing-coverts; primaries, grayish brown, outer webs
barred with ivory white; upper tail-coverts, gray, mottled, and
barred, with black; tufts of broad, lengthened feathers on either
side of neck, black, tipped with light brown and metallic green ;
throat, buff, faintly barred with brown; lower parts, buff on the
chest, white on remaining parts, barred with brown, darkest and
most conspicuous on the flanks, and just beneath the throat;
under tail-coverts, buff, barred with blackish and with a V-shaped
white mark at tip; tail, gray or yellowish brown; sometimes
rusty, mottled with black, and crossed by irregular buff bands,
bordered above by black, and a broad, subterminal black band
bordered above and below, with gray, mottled with black, the
upper gray bar bordered above with a narrow black bar; legs,
feathered to middle of tarsus; maxilla, black; mandible, horn
color. Total length, about i6 inches; wing, 7|; tail, 6^.

Adult Female. — Not to be distinguished from the male, save
she is slightly smaller, and has either very small neck tufts or
none at all.

Downy Young. — Upper parts, chestnut, darkest on front and
top of head; rest of plumage, light buff, darkest on sides of
head, with a conspicuous black line from back of eyes, across
ear-coverts; bill, pale yellowish.

15- Oregon, or Sabine's Ruffed Grouse,

OREGON OR SABINE'S GROUSE.

'T^HIS is the handsomest member of the genus which
includes the Ruffed Grouse of America. It is found
on the mountains between the Coast Range and the
Pacific, from northern British Columbia to California.
Wherever its habitat approaches or overlaps that of an-
other member of the genus it intergrades with it, and
breeds wherever found. It is a beautiful bird, its rich
red plumage relieved by black markings, and the orange,
red, black, and white under tail-coverts render it a very
attractive object, alive or dead. It is very plentiful in
certain parts of British Columbia, and it is difficult to
find a more striking object than this bird as it walks
sedately before you, flipping out, with quick repeated
jerks, the feathers of the tail, occasionally spreading it
out to the fullest extent, and elevating and depressing
the crest of lengthened feathers on the head.

Great numbers are killed by the Indians, mostly
snared, and brought into the towns and cities lying along
the Eraser and other rivers, and to Vancouver Island.
Its habits are like those of the Ruffed Grouse, and the
males drum from some fallen log, and fight furiously
in the pairing season, as has already been described.
If the season is mild they begin to drum in certain locali-
ties on the Pacific Coast in January or February, and
frequently at night. Whenever I have heard this solemn
roll after dark, which then has a peculiar weird sound,
I wondered at the bird's willingness to disclose its posi-
tion at an hour when many of its most active enemies

8i

82 GAME BIRDS OF NORTH AMERICA.

were abroad and searching for just such a toothsome
morsel as a fat Grouse, and I pictured to myself his
appearance, as, holding an evening reception, he dis-
played himself to the admiring gaze cf his hens, as in
all the pride of conscious power and possession he
strutted about in the moonlight upon his favorite log.
Well for him that his rolling call did not bring some
prowling Owl gliding on swift and noiseless wing, or
stealthy, keen-scented fox to sweep him out of the scene
and life together. The males fight like gamecocks, with
lowered head and outstretched necks, the feathers
ruffled and standing out in all directions. I doubt if
these battles ever terminate fatally to either combatant,
the weaker giving way to his conqueror and taking
refuge in flight, recuperating his energies and both his
wounded body and spirit in the quiet retirement of the
deeper woods.

Sabine's Grouse is never found in large flocks, but
each family keeps by itself, and they feed upon all kinds
of seeds, insects, berries, nuts, leaves, and buds, and the
flesh is white and palatable save in the winter, when it
is often bitter, occasionally flavored with turpentine from
eating the buds of the fir tree. Nidification takes place
from April to June, the time somewhat depending on the
locality, and the eggs range from six to ten, perhaps
occasionally exceeding the latter number. They re-
semble those of other Ruffed Grouse and vary in a simi-
lar manner, and the nest is the usual cavity in the
ground, lined with almost anything lying about, such as
dead leaves and grass, or needles of the spruce or pine.

It is a large bird, and possesses all the game qualities
of its race, but from the localities it frequents can be
rarely hunted with well-broken dogs satisfactorily.

OREGON OR SABINE'S GROUSE. 83

BO NASA UMBELLUS SABINI.

Geographical Distribntio7i. — Coast range of mountains from
Northern British Columbia to California.

Adult Male. — Upper parts, mostly dark, rusty chestnut,
mingled with black blotches and mottling; rump and upper tail-
coverts inclined to gray in some specimens; feathers of wings
have a central streak of yellowish white; flanks, rusty, barred
with black; tail, deep rust color, barred irregularly, with black,
tipped Avith gray, and having a subterminal black band, above
which is another bar of gray; under tail-coverts, orange, barred
with black and V-shaped white mark at tip; feathers of thighs
and tarsus, rusty. Total length, about \i\ inches; wings, 7I;
tail, 6i.

Adult Female. — Resembles the male.

CANADIAN RUFFED GROUSE.

'^HIS bird, a subspecific form of the Ruffed Grouse,
ranges in the northern half of Maine, through-
out Canada as far west as the New Caledonia district
in British Columbia, and is also found in northern
Idaho, Oregon, and Washington on the eastern slopes
of the Cascade Range, but does not enter the coast
districts. It is very numerous in the thick forests
that still cover a large portion of the Dominion of
Canada, and is usually quite tame and confiding in dis-
position. When a covey or single bird is met with, fly-
ing is rarely resorted to, at least at first; the Grouse
either walking perhaps a little more rapidly in front or
to one side, or else they mount upon the lower branches
of a tree close at hand and, motionless, gaze at the in-
truder. If a number have perched on the branches of
different trees, frequently the majority can be shot before
the survivors take alarm and fly deeper into the forest.
The usual way of hunting them in these woods is to go
with a little dog, which, striking the scent of a Grouse,
follows it up until the bird is flushed, and flies usually
immediately to a tree, at the foot of which the dog
barks frantically, jumping against the trunk, and in
many ways exhibiting the excitement under w^hich he
labors at seeing the most desired one so near and yet
so far. The attention of the Grouse is entirely taken up
with the antics and noise of the dog, and pays no heed
to the approach of her more formidable and deadly
enemy, the sportsman, who at short distance, with either

84

■'t^Ji*^i:v - _- '..-!ws?vr*^^iS^

i6. Canadian Ruffed Grouse.

CANADIAN RUFFED GROUSE. 85

shotgun or rifle — very frequently the latter is used —
knocks the bird off the limb. Should there be other
Grouse perched in the near vicinity the report of the
weapon does not frighten them, and the firing is contin-
ued until a number of birds are tossing upon the ground,
and the remainder, at length realizing that so much noise
means serious danger, betake themselves to more secure
retreats. When the rifle is employed for this kind of
shooting, it is de rigueur that the head alone should be
cut off, and any marring of the body by the bullet is
to be condemned, and the marksman adjudged to be
more lacking in skill than if he had missed the bird alto-
gether. This shooting away the head by a single ball
is not such a difficult feat as it may seem; for, in the first
place, the distance between man and bird is usually quite
short, possibly averaging not over ten yards, and the
bird does all it can to insure a successful shot by stand-
ing bolt upright, and, with its neck stretched to the
fullest length, remains as if carved in stone. The habits
of the Canadian Grouse are the same as its relative of
the Eastern part of the United States, and the description
of one will answer for both. On account of the wooded
character of the country it inhabits, it is not as commonly
shot over a dog '* at point " as is the Ruffed Grouse,
but in any favorable locality it w^ould lie as well, flush
and present as favorable a mark for the sportsman, and
show as much dexterity in evading his shot, by placing
trees between itself and the gun, as does its relative of
more southern climes.

Like all gallinaceous birds this Grouse rises with a
resounding whir-r of the wings, but, as is the case with
all the species, it can also take wing and steal away with-
out making the slightest sound whatever. It seems to
be almost an act of volition on the part of the bird

86 GAME BIRDS OF NORTH AMERICA.

whether it shall herald its departure with a burst of
thundering sound, or omit it altogether. The noise cer-
tainly serves for a moment to unsettle the nerves of its
enemies, unless experienced and accustomed to its ways,
and many a Grouse has preserved its life by the shock
the thunder of its wings has given to the startled nerves
of the novice in field sports. Like other members of
the tribe this Grouse is very courageous in defending its
young from any enemy. If its nest and eggs are dis-
covered it usually slinks quietly away, remaining, how-
ever, in the vicinity; but if the hen has a young brood
with her, she is utterly forgetful of self, and rushes to
meet either man or beast, and endeavors to lure him
by feigned lameness and other pitiful devices away from
the spot, sounding at the same time the warning notes
to the young to scatter and hide. It has been known in
its frenzied anxiety to peck at a man's trousers, as if
its feeble efforts could compel its huge enemy to flee.
If the intruder should happen to be a fox or other
quadruped there is a good deal of method displayed by
the hen in her attempts to entice him away from her
young, and although she may flutter and flounder about
within a few inches of the animal's nose, she is very
careful not to go quite near enough to be caught, but
evades easily the desperate efforts the beast makes to
spring upon her. And when she has succeeded in draw-
ing her foe a sufficient distance away, she suddenly rises
on sounding wings, and with swift flight returns to her
brood, leaving her defeated pursuer foolishly looking
about him and probably lamenting the loss of all earthly
hopes and joys, in this case typified by the vanishing
prospect of a much-desired meal. But one brood is
raised in a season, and the period of incubation, nest,
its composition and position, number, color, and mark-

CANADIAN RUFFED GROUSE. 87

ing of the eggs, all closely resemble those already de-
scribed in the article on the Ruffed Grouse.

BON AS A UM BELL US TOG ATA.

Geographical Distrihittton. — Northern New York, and New
England, and in Northern Idaho, Oregon, and Washington in
the United States, and throughout the Dominion of Canada, to
the district of New Caledonia, in British Columbia.

Adult Male. — Upper parts grayer than in the typical style,
the brown markings especially on lower back and rump very
conspicuous, and the gray ovate spots rather broadly surrounded
with black; upper tail feathers, dark bluish gray, mottled and
barred with black; under parts hardly distinguishable from the
typical Ruffed Grouse, though perhaps the bars on flanks are
usually darker; tail, mostly gray, irregularly barred, and mottled
with black, the median feathers inclined to a 5'ellowish brown,
and a subterminal black band; large tufts of feathers on each
side of neck, smoke-brown edged with metallic green. Measure-
ments about the same as those of B. innbellus.

Adult Female. — With the exception of the neck tufts, which
are either wanting or very small, there is no difference observa-
ble in the plumage of the female. While the birds found within
the limits of distribution given above may properly be consid-
ered as representing a well-marked race of the typical Ruffed
Grouse, it is very doubtful if the ordinary observer would detect
anything in their plumage to indicate that they were different
from the more southern species, and would probably consider
them as all of the same kind. Specimens vary considerably, and
it is not always easy for the expert to recognize the present race;
knowledge of the locality from which the bird comes being often
essential for a determination of its identity.

GRAY RUFFED GROUSE.

ANOTHER subspecies of the Ruffed Grouse is the
present bird, which dwells in the central Rocky
Mountain region, from the valley of the Yukon in
Alaska, through British Columbia, and Idaho, Montana,
and western Dakota south to Colorado. It possesses
a plumage of a gray color, and is somewhat smaller
than its relatives. Like the other Ruffed Grouse it is
not migratory, and where it is found there it resides and
breeds. It is fond of resorting to dense thickets and
undergrowth that flourishes so luxuriantly along the
mountain sides, and on the banks of streams, ascending
at times to the loftiest heights, having been met with
at 10,000 feet of elevation. Its habits are similar to those
of its relatives, and the nest and eggs resemble those of
the species already described.

It differs from the other Grouse of the Eastern portion
of the United States and Canada by the uniform gray of
the ground-color of its plumage and by its gray tail.
When writing my monograph of the Grouse I thought
that a good character consisted in the fact that the termi-
nal black bar on the tail did not include the middle
feathers, but the presence of more abundant material
than was then obtainable proves that this supposition
was not well founded. At best it is only a race of very
questionable value. This bird was found abundant in
the vicinity of Behring Straits at the head of Norton
Sound wherever the woods occurred. It is common at

88

1 7. Gray Ruffed Grouse.

G/^AV RUFFED GROUSE. 89

various points on the Yukon, and feeds upon the spruce
buds, which give a disagreeable flavor to the flesh.

BO NASA UM BELL US UMBELLOIDES.

Geographical Distribution. — Rocky Mountain Region from
Colorado, through Western Dakota, Montana, Idaho, and Brit-
ish Columbia to the Yukon in Alaska.

Adult Male. — Upper parts, mostly gray, some chestnut and
black markings upon the neck, upper back, and wings; pale gray
spots upon rump, all the feathers vermiculated with black; neck
tufts, black, with metallic green reflections; under parts, white
and buff mixed, especially so upon the chest, crossed with brown
bars, changing to black on the flanks; under tail-coverts, gray,
mottled with black and tipped with white; tail, pure gray, nar-
rowly barred and mottled with black, and a subterminal black
band. Total length about 14I inches; wing, 7^; tail 6.

Adult Female resembles the male, and is without neck tufts.

DUSKY GROUSE.

npHIS species and its two races are, next to the Cock-
of-the-Plains, the largest Grouse in the United
States. The three forms range from New Mexico in
the south, to Sitka, Alaska, in the north, and grade into
each other at different points of their dispersion. Various
names, besides the one at the head of this article, such
as Pine Hen, Blue, Pine, and Gray Grouse are appHed
to these birds, no particular one being confined to any
especial form, but in several localities the same name is
given to the different races. The present species, the
Dusky Grouse of naturalists, ranges from southern
Idaho, east to western South Dakota, and then through
portions of Wyoming, Nevada, Utah, and Colorado,
through the northern half of Arizona to the southern
part of New Mexico. It is not found in California. It
is essentially a bird of the high mountains, and ranges to
the limits of timber, coming down in winter to perhaps
an altitude of 2000 feet, and dwells mainly in the forests
of the thick spruce and fir. Solitary in its habits it is
frequently found alone or in small parties of perhaps half
a dozen individuals, and is of a roving, restless nature,
and delights in rough hillsides and mountain summits,
frequently changing its abode. The food consists of
leaves, berries, buds of the pines — resorting to these last
only in winter when the snow is deep — insects of all
kinds, especially grasshoppers, worms, and grubs. In the
spring the male struts exactly like the Turkey Gobbler;
puffing out his feathers, dropping the wings, spreading

90

iS. Dusky Grouse.

DUSKY GROUSE. 9 1

and elevating the tail, and drawing- the head toward the
back, he steps gingerly along, overcome for the moment
by the extent and force of his amatory feelings. He has
another method also of declaring his love, which he em-
ploys when perched in the midst of some thick fir or
spruce. At such times he inflates a small sac, covered
by a bare skin on either side of the neck, until it is half as
large as an orange and something like it in color, sur-
rounded by a fringe of white feathers; and suddenly
exhausting the air, emits a low, booming sound having
a strange ventriloquial power, and which can be heard for
a singularly long distance. If met with on the ground
this Grouse immediately takes to a tree if any are in the
vicinity, and remains motionless on its perch, watching
keenly every movement of its pursuer. • It is very diffi-
cult to discover it when it is so en garde, aind if, after
much peering into the somber depths of the foliage
and many contortions of the neck, one catches sight
of the bird, it is aware of the fact at once, and plunges
down the mountain side with a roar of wings and swift-
ness of flight that almost always carries him away in
safety. The speed at which the bird travels and the
brief momentary glimpses that are afforded of his
passing form, give but a slight chance for a successful
shot.

At times when there are any grain fields near its
resorts, the Dusky Grouse will enter the stubble to pick
up the scattered kernels, and then is often quite tame
and unsuspicious. I do not consider it a very wild or
shy bird, at least I have never found it so, but this
may be because I have mostly seen it in retired locali-
ties, in the depths of the forest, or on high mountains,
where the bird had probably been seldom molested by
man. When suddenly started it flies off with great

92 GAME BIRDS OF NORTH AMERICA.

rapidity, uttering a loud, cackling note, and if there are
several together, the noise they make at such a time is
very considerable. The nesting season begins in May or
June, according to the elevation at which the birds may
be, and but one brood is raised in a season. A depres-
sion is made in the ground by a fallen log, or beneath a
bush, or perhaps in thick grass, or it may be right in the
open without any concealment, and this is lined without
much care with grass or any material that can be pressed
down by the bird, and about eight eggs are deposited.
Sometimes this number is greatly exceeded, and then it
is a question whether they have not been laid by more
than one hen. The eggs have a ground color varying
from a creamy white to a rather deep buff, dotted,
spotted, and sometimes blotched with chestnut or choco-
late brown, and these markings are pretty evenly dis-
tributed all over the shell. The female remains on the
nest for about three weeks, when the young appear.
The chicks are exceedingly pretty little creatures, very
active, running as soon as they leave the shell, and are
adepts in hiding at the first alarm. The mother appears
to have the sole charge of their welfare, and clucks to
them in a similar manner as does the domestic hen to
her brood. When frightened the young scatter in every
direction, and the old bird usually takes refuge in some
tree. As soon as the chicks are sufficiently grown so as
to be able to fly, they also immediately take to the trees
if alarmed, but make no farther effort to escape, seeming
to believe they are quite out of danger as soon as they
have left the ground. From the habit which these
birds have of remaining motionless on the branches
until sometimes the entire covey is shot or killed
with sticks, they have received the name of Fool
hen or Fool Grouse. The flesh of this bird is white

DUSKY GROUSE. 93

and well-flavored, and sometimes individuals are met
with that will weigh as much as three pounds and a half.

DENDRAGAPUS OBSCURUS.

Geographical Distribution. — Rocky Mountains from Southern
Idaho, Montana, and Western South Dakota to New Mexico
and Arizona.

Adult Male. — Forehead, dull rufous ; back of head brownish
black, feathers tipped with rusty; in some specimens the top of
head is all slaty gray like the back; back of neck and upper
parts, blackish brown, vermiculated with lighter brown, and
gray, sometimes coarsely mottled with the same, especially on
the wings, which are occasionally blotched with black; scapulars
streaked with white along the shafts to the tips; w^hite space on
sides of neck ; throat, white, mottled with black ; sides of head, black;
lower parts, slate gray, mottled with brown upon the flanks, the
feathers of which have streaks along the shafts, and terminal spots
white; under tail-coverts, blackish brown, with subapical bar of
gray, mottled and bordered with black and tipped with white;
tail, rounded, black, and tipped with a broad gray band; pri-
maries, dark brown, outer webs and tips, mottled with gray; legs
covered to the toes with pale brown feathers; bill, horn color.
Total length, about 20 inches; wing, about 9I; tail, 8; tarsus, if.
Weight, about 3 pounds.

Adult Female. — Upper parts, mottled with black and buff,
these frequently taking the form of bars and blotches; feathers,
usually tipped with white; wings, slaty brown or gray, barred
and mottled with buff, central streaks and terminal points, white;
primaries, dark brown; throat, mostly buff; sides and front of
neck and chest, dark brownish gray, barred and tipped with
buffy white, sometimes only a spot of white on the tip; rest of
under parts, slaty gray, the flank feathers tipped with white
and mottled with buff and black; central tail feathers, blackish
brown barred with pale grayish brown, the bars mottled with
blackish ; rest of tail, black, slightly mottled with gray, and a gray
band at tip. Total length, about 17 inches; wing, 8|; tail, 6.

SOOTY GROUSE.

'^HIS race of the last species ranges through the
northern Rocky Mountains from the southern Sierra
Nevada in Cahfornia to northern Alaska in the Coast
Range. Like the Dusky Grouse the present bird is a
mountain dweller and is found at altitudes of 9000 feet,
descending in winter 6000 or 7000 feet lower. It is much
darker than the Dusky Grouse and has a narrower band
on the tail, while the female has a dark rusty wash on the
upper parts of her plumage. In its habits it does not
differ from the preceding species and haunts the dense
spruce and fir forests, taking refuge in the dark foliage of
the trees and remaining motionless. I have met with this
bird on the very summit of the mountains in the Coast
Range, above the forest, and where the only covering
was stunted trees and small clumps of bushes. I was
riding along such a place one morning, my horse picking
his way carefully over the rocks and broken ground and
winding in and out among the low trees and bushes that
stood plentifully about, when I saw a covey of about
eight individuals of this Grouse upon the ground a short
distance in front of me. Although they saw me and my
horse very well, and must have heard his iron shoes
striking the stones long before we came into view, they
were not at all alarmed but continued to feed, running
about without the least concern. Dismounting, I ad-
vanced toward them, when they drew together and
looked at me in a wondering kind of a way, and one or
two flew up into a low tree that was near by, but no effort

94

ig. Sooty Grouse.

SOOTV GROUSE. 95

was made to escape. Drawing nearer, I fired at one as
he rose, when the rest took wing but flew only a short
distance before ahghting, and then began to run. They
took wing again as I advanced, when I secured two more,
and with httle trouble and being obliged to walk but a
short distance I shot all but one, and he, finding the place
altogether unhealthy, flew down the mountain side, after
I had fired several times at his companions, and escaped.
This was in the month of September, but snow had not
yet fallen, and berries of various kinds were plentiful on
the bushes and vines, affording ample food for the birds.
They were fat and in fine condition, and made a most
acceptable addition to our camp larder.

In the thick firs it is practically impossible to see these
birds, as they not only remain motionless, often squatting
close to the limb or to the trunk itself, but their dark,
sooty plumage helps very much to conceal them; so, if
one's eyes do light upon a bird, it is usually deemed to be
only a knot or a bunch of some kind attached to the limb
or trunk. The males have the same habit in the spring, as
that already described in the article on the Dusky Grouse,
of blowing up the yellow sac on the side of the neck, and
emitting a sound that is heard for a considerable dis-
tance, a sort of boom, and from its ventriloquial powers,
it is impossible to determine whence it comes, or where
the bird is located. At such times, could you catch
a glimpse of the performer he would present a curious
appearance, for his neck would be pufifed out until it
seemed as large as his body, or as if he was suffering
from a severe attack of the goiter, while the head,
apparently reduced in dimensions, would be perched
upon these yellow globes, and the bright eyes, half closed
from the pressure below them, would be surmounted by
a conspicuous semicircle of brilliant orange. The air

g6 GAME BIRDS OF NORTH AMERICA.

exhausted in the globes, he would resume for a brief
space his normal shape, although the skin on the neck
would seem flabby and wrinkled, when he would again
proceed to inflate himself out of shape. The courting
season over these sacs shrink entirely away, and the
bare place is covered over by the feathers of the neck.

The time of love-making, period of nesting, style, and
position of the nest, and number and color of the eggs,
are almost precisely the same as has been described in
the article on the Dusky Grouse. In fact there could
not well be any difference of consequence between birds
so closely related as are the above-named species and the
present race, for practically they are the same bird; the
probable greater amount of moisture in the districts in-
habited by the Sooty Grouse causes its plumage to
assume a darker, more somber hue; a fact known to
occur in the coloring of all animals which dwell in coun-
tries visited by a great amount of rainfall. A belief is
entertained among some that these Grouse remain in a
somnolent state during the winter, regaining their
activity in the spring; not like the old tale of the swal-
lows, that they buried themselves in the mud, but that
they went to sleep somewhere in the tree tops — hiber-
nated in fact among the obscure depths of the firs and
spruce. No doubt they do pass much of the winter amid
the thick foliage of these trees, but the birds are far from
being asleep, though for hours during the severe weather
they may remain immovable. At such times the snow
is usually very deep, and all food obtainable from the
ground is hidden from sight, and the Grouse subsist on
the buds and leaves of the trees amid which they have
taken refuge, and have very little occasion to come from
out their chosen resorts. Even the water they may need
can be obtained from the snow lying on the branches.

SOOTY GROUSE. 97

In size this bird equals the Dusky Grouse and like its
relative does not migrate, unless ascending and descend-
ing lofty mountains at certain periods of the year can be
called migrating, and breeds wherever found.

DENDRAGAPUS OBSCURUS FULIGINOSUS.

Geographical Distribution. — Coast Range of Mountains from
California eastward to Nevada, Western Idaho to Northern
Alaska.

Adult Male. — Above, brownish black, lighter upon the back
of neck, which is more of a slate color, and mottled, especially
upon the wings, about the tips of the feathers, with brown and
pale gray; rump and upper tail-coverts, mottled also with the
same; no white central streaks on the scapulars, nor any very
distinct white space on the side of neck; throat and sides of face,
usually black, with a few small white spots on the former; breast
sooty black, grading into very dark slate on rest of under parts;
under tail-coverts, black, with white tip and a gray subapical bar
mottled with black; tail, black, with a dark gray band at tip.
Total length, about 21 inches; wing, 9I; tail 8.

Adult Female. — Resembles the female of D. obscurus, but is
much darker in hue, with a good deal of dark rusty on the upper
parts.

RICHARDSON'S GROUSE.

THIS bird, which is another race of the Dusky Grouse,
inhabits the eastern slopes of the Rocky Mountains
from central Montana northward, through the interior
of British North America, and is known as Richardson's
Grouse. It is almost precisely similar in plumage to the
Dusky Grouse, but lacks the distinct gray band on the
tip of the tail, or has it very slightly indicated. The tail
seems to be more square at the tip, and the feathers are
much broader. Wherever its habitat overlaps that of
either of its relatives, such as in Wyoming and Idaho, the
present bird intergrades with them. It inhabits the same
kind of country, high mountains, and breeds wherever
found in spring, and passes much of the autumn in the
bottoms, along creeks where the cover is plenty and
berries abundant.

This Grouse builds a nest similar to its relatives, if
scraping a slight hollow in the ground can be called
building, but the eggs are smaller, although marked and
colored in the same way. It did not seem to me to be
as numerous in the places it frequented as were its rela-
tives in their habitats, and in certain portions of Montana
I have rarely met with it, but in other sections, as in the
Big Horn Mountains, it is common. Its habits do not
differ from those of the Dusky or Sooty Grouse, and the
description of these already given will suffice for this bird
as well. In size it equals the others, and its flesh is as
white and well-flavored.

98

/Awi^u SKe|o^o.v,V

20. Richardson's Grouse.

RICHARDSON'S GROUSE. 99

DENDRAGAPUS OBSCURUS RICHARDSONI.

Geographical Distribution. — Eastern slopes of Rocky Moun-
tains, from Northern Wyoming, and Southeastern Idaho to the
Liard River, latitude 6i in British North America.

Adult Male. — In general coloration this race resembles the
D. obscurus, or Dusky Grouse, but has a differently shaped tail,
which is much more square, and without any distinct terminal
gray band, merely an edging of pale brown; the feathers also
are much broader than those of the other two forms. In dimen-
sions there is little, if any, difference.

Adult Female. — A specimen of this sex, which belonged to my
collection, and is now contained in the American Museum of
Natural History, number 2901, while resembling closely the
female of the Dusky Grouse on the upper parts, presents certain
differences beneath : it is much lighter upon the throat, being a
buffy white, speckled with brown, and there is a good deal of
white exhibited on lower breast, and on the flanks, the feathers,
which are slaty gray, being broadly tipped with this hue ; the
abdomen is slaty gray, the feathers only edged with whitish.
Tail has the median feathers broadly barred with buff, and all
are edged with whitish, the ground color being brownish black.

CANADA GROUSE.

nANGING from the Pacific Coast at Kadiak in north-
western Alaska through the British Possessions to
the Atlantic Ocean, and from the Rocky Mountains east-
ward through the upper portion of the northern tier of
States in the Union, the Black Partridge, Spruce or
Canada Grouse as it is variously called, is one of the best
known, and, in the localities it frequents, one of the com-
monest members of the Family. It dwells in the tam-
arack swamps, or where the spruce and fir grow thickest,
and is tame and unsuspicious, permitting one to approach
within a few feet of it as it stands upon a limb or on the
ground, gazing at the intruder with fearless eye, perhaps
simply uttering a soft cluck, as it steps on one side to let
him pass. Many are caught by a noose fastened to the
end of a stick, the Grouse permitting this to be placed
around its neck without moving, when it is jerked ofi
its perch. I have seen birds push this noose aside with
their bills without changing their position, when through
awkwardness, or unsteadiness of hand on account of a
long reach, the noose had touched the bird's head but
had not slipped over it.

This bird does not migrate, in the real sense of the
term, but may change its locality on account of the lack
or abundance of food in particular places, and it seems
able to withstand the severest weather; finding ample
shelter and protection from cold and storms in the dense
foliage of the trees amid which it lives, and subsistence
from the buds of the spruce, about their only food in

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w

CANADA GROUSE. lOi

winter. The Spruce Grouse is found usually in small
flocks consisting generally of one family, but also old
males are frequently met with alone, and I have always
regarded it as a bird that was rather fond of solitude.
Frequently, even in autumn, when the nights were be-
coming frosty, and snow flurries would hide the sun by
day, heralding the coming winter, I have seen an old
male, in the recesses of a swamp, strut about with ruffled
feathers and trailing wings, as if the air were balmy and
mild and spring were at hand to awaken in his breast the
all-controlling passion of love, instead of being near the
freezing point. He may have been going over the per-
formance to keep himself in practice, or to impress me,
possibly, with a proper sense of his own importance, for
all his movements were calm and dignified in the ex-
treme, and there was not the slightest evidence of fear, or
of his being in any way incommoded by such an unim-
portant event as my presence.

I have never known the Canada Grouse to assemble
together in large numbers or " pack " as it is called in
the Western States, and if this has ever happened, it
would be, I should imagine, a very unusual occurrence,
and a large number of birds would find it very difficult
to obtain sufficient food in any one locality even for a
day.

The mating season begins in April, sometimes in the
far north May is the earliest month, and at this time the
male appears to the greatest advantage, and no Turkey
Gobbler, in all his magnificence of gleaming scarlet and
gold, is a prouder creature than this small Grouse. He
tries by every means in his power to attract attention to
himself and gain the admiration of anybody that is look-
ing at him, whether it be the object of his affections, the
demure and quiet little hen, or perchance his mortal

102 GAME BIRDS OF NORTH AMERICA.

enemy and persecutor, man. His head is drawn back and
the bright blood-red combs stand erect and stiff above
each eye; the feathers of throat and breast are raised
and puffed out, and the wings are lowered and slightly
open; while the outspread tail, occasionally closed with
a swift movement, is elevated above the body. In this
apparently uncomfortable but proud and striking atti-
tude, the bird moves slowly about with mincing, jerky
steps, highly impressed with his own importance and the
imposing display he is making. Certainly, at such a
time he is a beautiful object and well worth seeing. He
has a method of drumming also that is peculiar to him-
self, and is effected in the following manner: When in the
act of strutting he suddenly flies upward but not very
high, keeping the wings moving at a very rapid rate, and
after holding himself stationary for a moment in the air,
descends again slowly to the ground. The drumming
sound is produced by the rapid movement of the wings.
I have seen certain Pheasants, of the genus Eitplocajnus,
drum in a somewhat similar manner, although they did
not rise from the ground entirely. The wings would be
beaten violently and rapidly for a few moments, and the
bird would be raised on to the tips of its toes, sometimes
the nails just touching the ground, but I never saw it
entirely quit the earth; and the noise made by the wings
was a low, deep rumbling with a strange ventriloquial
power, and although I was looking directly at the bird
during the performance, the sound appeared to come
from some place a long distance away rather than
directly in front of me.

The nest is a loosely arranged affair of grass, leaves,
and other slight material, placed under some drooping
branches of a spruce in the depths of a swamp. A
writer in the Forest and Stream, Mr. Bishop of Kent-

CANADA GROUSE. 103

ville, Nova Scotia, described a trait of this Grouse in nest-
buildittg^ which I have never witnessed myself. He
states that the hen, when leaving her nest, will pick up
sundry articles, like straws, grass, leaves, etc., and throw
them over her back toward the nest, and sometimes, mis-
led by the trail, she will throw these things in the wrong
direction, but as soon as she discovers this, she faces
about and throws them again over her back toward the
nest. Then, while she is sitting, she reaches out and
draws all these different articles lying near toward her,
and arranges them in such a manner that before the
young appear the nest is quite a deep affair and sur-
rounded by a neat border. The number of eggs is
about a dozen, sometimes a few less, or even more, with
a ground color varying from a pale to a reddish buff,
spotted and blotched with marks of various sizes, of a
reddish brown or burnt umber color. Occasionally an
unspotted ^gg may appear, and in a large series there is
a very great variation in both color and markings.
Only one brood is raised in a season, and the chicks are
exceedingly pretty creatures, buffy yellow, with pale
brown back and wings and sundry black marks on other
parts of the body. The mother shows great courage in
their defense, fluttering close to anyone who approaches
her brood, and will almost permit herself to be touched
with the hand as she crouches with ruffled feathers, or
stumbles along in front of the intruder on her privacy.

The flesh of this Grouse is dark, and in the winter be-
comes at times very bitter, and is never as well flavored
as that of the various Dusky or Ruffed Grouse. Still it
is not to be despised and is often a welcome addition to
the camp larder, when the bracing air of the woods and
healthful exercise have produced an appetite that requires
no sauce to make the food palatable. The young are

I04 GAME BIRDS OF NORTH AMERICA.

very active creatures and run with light feet over the
moss that carpets the swamps which are their home. As
soon as they can fly they keep much among the branches
of the trees, and always immediately take refuge there, if
disturbed when on the ground. In the summer and
autumn the Spruce Grouse, or Perdrix de la Savanne,
as it is called by the Hahitans or French-Canadians,
feed on berries and buds of various kinds, and at this time
they are in the best condition for the table. The crop
often contains numbers of small stones, swallowed as is
the habit of all gallinaceous birds to assist digestion or
grinding the food. It is a beautifully plumaged bird,
and is one of the most attractive objects of the dark,
gloomy, and usually silent woods of the far North. In
the northern part of New York State this Grouse is
scarce, but is more often met with in the New England
States, especially Maine, while in the West it is common
in the large forests of northern Minnesota, and increases
in numbers as one proceeds toward the Arctic regions
wherever the forests extend.

CANACHITES CANADENSIS.

Geographical Distribution. — From Kadiak, Alaska, through
British North America to the Atlantic Ocean, and from the east-
ern slopes of the Rocky Mountains through the northern tier of
States to the coast line of New York and New England.

Adult Male. — Upper parts, gray, barred with black: wings,
usually light gray, mottled and barred with black and brown
tips, with central white streaks on scapulars, widening at the
tips; under parts, black, with a mottled black and white border
to the throat, and many of the feathers, especially on abdomen,
tipped with pure white; flanks, pale brown, with irregular longi-
tudinal black lines, and white streaks along the shafts, broaden-
ing at the tips; under tail-coverts, black tipped with white; upper
tail-coverts, black, mottled with brown and tipped with gray;
bill, black. Total length, about 14^ inches; wings, 7; tail 5.

CANADA GROUSE. 105

Adult Feynale. — Upper parts, barred with gray, buff, and
black, the latter predominating, the gray most conspicuous on
lower back and rump, and buff or ochraceous predominating
upon side of breast and flanks, the feathers of these parts having
central streaks of white broadening at the tip, sometimes the
entire tip being white. Abdomen, black, feathers tipped with
white; under tail-coverts, black, barred with buff, and tipped with
white; median tail feathers, barred with ochraceous and black;
remainder black, with irregular narrow lines of ochraceous,
chiefly on the outer webs, and tipped with ochraceous, widest on
outer feathers. Dimensions about the same as those of the
male.

Downy Young. — General color, lemon yellow, darkest on the
breast, a black bar through the eye to nape; top of head and
neck, back, and wings, rusty, with two spots on head, and trans-
verse ones on wings, black; maxilla, black; mandible, pale horn
color; feet, yellowish.

FRANKLIN'S GROUSE.

A TRULY Northern species, like its relative the Can-
ada Grouse, this bird is found but in few localities
in the United States, being more an inhabitant of the
country lying above our border. It ranges from Wash-
ington and Oregon, through northern Idaho to the Belt
Range in Montana, and north of our line, in British Co-
lumbia and the mountains of the Coast Range. In
most parts of Alaska it seems to be supplanted by the
Canada Grouse, which reaches the Pacific Coast in that
Territory; but it is Frankhn's Grouse that is met with
in the mountains of the Coast Range in British Columbia.
My experience with this bird has been gained mainly
in the last-named mountains, where I have met with it
on various occasions. It inhabits similar localities to
those frequented by the Spruce Grouse, and is equally
tame and confiding, hardly taking the trouble to move
out of the way of man or horse — perhaps mule would be
a better term — and seems quite indififerent to the presence
of intruders in its haunts. As a game bird it affords no
sport whatever, and an entire flock can be killed before
it enters the head of any of its members that it would be
a wise thing to take wing and seek some more healthy
locality. I have met flocks of this species, perhaps con-
sisting of eight or ten individuals, dusting themselves in
the trails crossing the mountains, or scattered about them
on either side, and could easily have bagged the entire lot

io6

22. Franklin's Grouse.

FRANKLIN'S GROUSE. 107

without creating an alarm, or causing the birds to make
any attempt at flight. Of course nothing but the neces-
sity of obtaining food for the camp would excuse such
thorough slaughter, for certainly there was no sport in
shooting creatures that would not get out of the way,
nor rarely make an attempt to fly, and it seemed a
pity to kill birds for the pot that were so rare in all orni-
thological collections. A pair obtained on one of these
occasions, I am glad to think, is now in the collection of
the American Museum of Natural History in New York.
The males of Franklin's Grouse are like their relatives
of the other species, pugnacious creatures, attacking
almost anything, and very fearless. This trait is of
course exhibited chiefly during the mating season, but
they are quite ready to act on the offensive or defensive
at any time. They have also the same habit as the
Spruce Grouse of erecting the feathers just below the
head, making the birds appear very odd, and the males
strut in a similar way as that already described in the
article on the other species. This Grouse appears not
to go far from water, and when in the forest, if not in pre-
cisely a swamp, the birds would always be found in some
wet spot, or near a brook or spring.

Franklin's Grouse is a thorough mountaineer, living at
altitudes varying all the way from 5000 to 10,000 feet,
and it is only occasionally that it descends much below
the first-named elevation. Wherever found there it re-
sides and breeds, raising the young brood probably in the
same locality where the parents themselves grew to
maturity. It is not rare in the places it frequents, but is
often met with in considerable numbers; not in large
flocks, but numerous coveys scattered over a con-
siderable area. From its trustful nature and consequent
reluctance to save itself by flight, a great many are killed

io8 GAME BIRDS OF NORTH AMERICA.

both by Indians and whites, and large numbers are ob-
tained by hitting them with sticks and stones, at throw*
ing which the Indians are very expert. The nest of
this species resembles that of the Canada Grouse, merely
a shallow depression in the ground or moss, lined with
leaves or grass, and the eggs resemble exactly those of
its relative, but are slightly smaller. A single brood is
raised in a season, and nesting commences the latter part
of May or beginning of June. This species and the
preceding one are very much alike in the general color
of their plumage, but Franklin's Grouse can always be
recognized by the broad white bars at the end of the
upper tail-coverts, and the tail itself is without the white
edging, and more inclined to a square shape or one only
slightly rounded. In size the two forms are about equal.

CANACHITES FRAN KLIN I.

Geographical Distribution. — Rocky Mountains from North-
west Montana, through Oregon and Washington, and the coast
range of British Columbia to Alaska.

Adult Male. — Upper parts, similar to the Spruce Grouse, but
with the upper back, scapulars, and wings of a brown hue, the bars
and mottling being of that color; no white central streaks on the
wings, but some of the tertials tipped with white; upper tail-
coverts very broadly tipped with white, and this is a conspicuous
character of this species; the entire under parts are like those of
its Eastern relative, but the white beneath and on the sides of
the throat is narrower and much less prominent; tail, almost
square, and of a uniform sooty brown, nearly black on the apical
half; bill, black. Total length, about 15I inches; wing, 7^^;
tail, 5.

Adult Female. — Upper parts, gray, barred with black and
ochraceous, narrowest on head and neck, broadest and most con-
spicuous on upper part of back; upper tail-coverts ochraceous,
mottled with black and tipped with white; innermost second-
aries with a central line and tip, white; primaries, dark brown;

FRANKLIN'S GROUSE. 109

outer webs, mottled with light brown; under parts, barred with
black and ochraceous, feathers tipped broadly with white upon
the flanks and belly; under tail-coverts, black, barred with
orange and tipped broadly with white; tail, ochraceous, barred
and mottled with black and tipped with white; thighs and tarsi,
ashy brown; bill, black. Measurements about as in the male.

PRAIRIE HEN.

npHROUGHOUT the prairies of the Mississippi
Valley, south to Louisiana and Texas and west to
Kansas and Dakota, east to Indiana and Kentucky and
north to Manitoba, this familiar and well-known bird is
found in greater or less abundance. Along the eastern
limit of its dispersion the Prairie Chicken is rapidly
diminishing, and like the buffalo, and many other wild
creatures that once roamed in countless numbers over
certain portions of our land, will doubtless soon entirely
disappear. But as if to atone for the loss of its eastern
possessions, it follows its star of empire westward, and as
the settlements increase and multiply, so the Prairie
Hen appears to flourish, and like Bob White accom-
panies man as he penetrates the wilderness, either of
forest or treeless plains. It is a resident species through-
out nearly all its range, breeding where found, save in the
northern portions of our land, and in the autumn, when
the weather is severe, the females, for the flocks are
mostly of that sex, leave the northern limit of their
habitat and proceed south to more genial climes, such as
may be found in Iowa and Missouri. In the spring, as
soon as the weather has become somewhat settled, the
birds all return to their northern homes. The males
seem to remain behind, whether too lazy to undertake
the journey, or less mindful of the excessive cold fre-
quently experienced near the Canadian border, it is diffi-
cult to determine, but probably the cold affects them
less.

23- Prairie Hen.

PRAIRIE HEN. ill

At one time this bird was dispersed over a large part
of the eastern United States, and was by no means es-
pecially a prairie dweller, but it is difficult to ascer-
tain where its limits and those of the Heath Hen, now
restricted to Martha's Vineyard, originally were, but
probably somewhere along the boundaries of the Middle
States. I do not imagine the Heath Hen was more of
a woodland species than is the Prairie Chicken, but both
dwelt among the open woods if there were any within
their range. In the spring, in the early mornings,
throughout the country which this species inhabits, soon
after daybreak, is heard the loud booming of the males,
when, assembled upon some slight elevations in the prai-
rie, they inflate and exhaust the yellow sacs on either side
of the neck, producing, as the orange-colored bladder
collapses, a low, booming sound that can be heard for
a long distance. The lengthened feathers on the neck
at such times are elevated and projected stiffly forward,
almost meeting above the head. When their sacs are
fully extended the bird has a most comical appearance,
as his head nearly disappears between the enormous
globes which stand out in either side until his neck has
as large a diameter as his body. The tail is raised above
the back and spread out to its fullest extent, and the
wings are lowered with the primaries scraping along
the ground. In this uncomfortable attitude the male
struts before the females, who at first take but little
interest in the exhibition and hardly deign a glance
at their adorer, striving so hard to appear magnificent
and attractive. He makes a sudden rush forward, dart-
ing fiery glances from his eyes, peering out from beneath
the neck feathers, anxiously watching the effect his strik-
ing appearance is having upon the fair ones, and then,
lowering his bill toward the ground and spreading the

112 GAME BIRDS OF NORTH AMERICA.

mandibles, he exhausts the air sacs and gives vent to the
booming sound that rolls and echoes, like the tones from
the great pipes of the organ, over the wide prairie.
W^here hundreds of males are so occupied in the stillness
of the early day, before the sun has risen, and the shadows
of departing night are being faintly dissipated by the rosy
tints that herald his coming beams, the concert of varied
sounds is very impressive, as the many different tones
come from every direction, echoing through the air, and
carried in strong booming notes for great distances over
the prairie-land. Shortly after the sun has fairly risen the
display ceases and the birds go about their daily avoca-
tion, to commence the same exhibition again the next
morning. Occasionally during the day, in places where
the birds are not molested, or removed from the presence
of human beings, the boom of some male may be
heard at almost any hour, but no concerts are attempted
save just at daybreak. These displays continue for a
number of days, and toward the latter part of their court-
ship the males are more anxious, and do not take as
much care to avoid contact with each other as they did
at first, and then desperate battles occur, the fighting
cocks leaping into the air and tearing at each other with
bills and claws and striking with their wings, until the
weaker, utterly exhausted, flees away and leaves the field
and, what is of much more importance doubtless in his
eyes, the hens also, to the victor.

These fair feathered creatures have lately shown much
more interest in the antics and combats of the males,
and move about them, quickly at times, or else remain
motionless and watch them displaying themselves in all
the pride of conscious power and beauty as they slowly
move along, or when, in the midst of the deadly fray, the
courageous birds strive for some particular sweetheart

PRAIRIE HEN. 113

beloved by both combatants. Having chosen their mates
the pairs seek suitable places for the nest, which is placed
in the midst of thick prairie grass, or in a corner of some
field among weeds, on the borders of swamps, in culti-
vated grounds, or far out on the open prairie, sometimes
in quite exposed situations. A slight depression in the
soil is lined with grass and some feathers from the hen's
own body. Prairie fires, mowing machines, and floods
destroy many thousands of eggs in a season, and occa-
sionally the young themselves are caught and slain by
the sharp knives that are laying low the grass. The
usual number of eggs is from ten to fourteen, but some-
times twenty or more have been found in one nest.
Their color shades from a pale cream to light brown,
regularly spotted with fine reddish brown dots, and there
is great variation among them, no two being exactly
alike. Incubation lasts from twenty-three to twenty-
eight days, and one brood is raised in a season, though,
if the eggs be destroyed or lost from any cause, the hen
may lay again, but this is exceptional. The male does
not trouble himself with the cares of either the nesting
or of the young when they appear, but keeps to him-
self, and the broods probably get along just as well with-
out him.

As soon as they are hatched the chicks leave the nest,
and the female leads them away where insects, especially
grasshoppers, abound, and these at first are their sole
food. As they grow in size and strength they eat grain
of different sorts as they may happen to find it, and also
berries. The hen is courageous and protects her brood
to the best of her limited ability, feigning lameness and
employing all the usual artifices to attract attention to
herself and give her little ones a chance to escape. These
hide away with great celerity and adroitness, and it is

114 GAME BIRDS OF NORTH AMERICA.

often extraordinary, how easily the chicks will disappear
from view and efifectually escape all search, be it carried
on ever so patiently and perseveringly, even on the open
prairie with apparently no opportunities for conceal-
ment. Towards the end of August the broods are
nearly full grown, and later in the season many flocks
pack together until several hundreds are present in one
gathering. They are then usually very wild, and, when
started, will fly often several miles before alighting, and
little can be done with them over dogs. But before this
congregating together takes place the Prairie Chicken
lies well to the dog, and is one of the most desirable of
the game birds as an object of sport in the field.

A covey having been located by the dog, the birds will
almost always lie very close, flushing in easy range in
twos or threes, and after, as may be supposed, all the
birds have either flown away or rest in the sportsman's
game bag, there is always still one old bird remaining,
which rises at length with a prodigious fluttering and
cackling, either just when the sportsman is reloading
his gun and so escapes, or else, having miscalculated
his time, appears when the guns are all ready for him,
and joins his brethren in the pocket or wagon. When
young, the flesh of the Prairie Hen is white, but becomes
dark as the bird attains its full growth. It is excellent
for the table, especially when eaten soon after the bird
is killed, for it loses flavor after having been kept for
a length of time, especially if, as is the case with thou-
sands of birds served in the Eastern cities, they have been
frozen, tossed about perhaps for weeks like lumps of ice,
and then thawed out before being cooked. The most
toothsome morsel in the world, after such treatment,
could not be expected to have much more flavor than
a dried chip.

PRAIRIE HEN. I15

When flushed the Pinnated Grouse always utters a
few clucks, and the crest on the head is frequently raised.
It has the habit of lifting and depressing the crest when
walking on the ground and when one approaches near
to it. This is only, however, when it has not been much
disturbed and is tame. At other times it crouches among
the grass or close to the ground, and only moves to take
wing. In spite of the enormous number killed every
year by all sort of means, the species still manages to
hold its own fairly well in many localities, but the inevita-
ble day will surely come that will bring the same fate to
all our wild creatures, and the Prairie Chicken, like other
natives of the wilderness, will remain only as a memory.

TYMPANUCHUS AMERICANUS.

Geographical Distribution. — Prairies of Mississippi Valley
from Manitoba on the northeast to Ontario, Michigan, and Ohio,
west to the Dakotas, Kansas, and the Indian Territory, and south
to Louisiana and Texas.

Adult Male. — Upper parts, brown, barred with black and
buff; wing feathers, tipped with buff; a tuft of stiff, elongated
feathers, capable of being elevated over the head on either side
of the neck, black, with buff centers, frequently chestnut on the
inner webs; chin, throat, and cheeks, buff; the latter marked
with dark brown spots; a brown line from mouth, beneath the
eye to ear-coverts; buff stripe from maxilla to and beyond the
eye; under parts, white, barred with brown or blackish brown;
flanks, barred with blackish brown, and buff; under tail-coverts,
white, edged at tip with brown and margined with dark brown
and buff; tail, brown, darkest on median feathers, and tipped
with white; large sac of loose skin, capable of inflation beneath
the long neck feathers. Total length, about 18 inches; wing, 9;
tail, 4i.

Adult Female. — Resembles the male, but is without the neck
sac, has the neck tufts very short or rudimentary, and the tail
feathers have numerous distinct bars of buff. Total length,
about 17I inches; wing, 8|; tail, 3f.

Ii6 GAME BIRDS OF NORTH AMERICA.

In the breeding season there is a red skin over the eye, large
and erectile in the male.

Downy Youui^. — General color, yellowish buff, inclined to
rusty on breast and sides; several spots or broken lines on head
and occiput, stripe across shoulder, and blotches on back and
rump black, wing feathers barred with light brown and buff, and
striped in center with white.

^'^vwiiv ^Vv,e^viV*^V'V.

24. Heath Hen.

HEATH HEN.

\/[ ARTHA'S VINEYARD, an island off the coast of
Massachusetts, is the last stronghold of the Heath
Hen, which formerly dwelt in various parts of that State,
as well as in Connecticut, on Long Island, on Hempstead
Plains, and other localities, New Jersey, and Pennsyl-
vania. It may also have ranged over a greater part of
the Middle States. It closely resembles the Pinnated
Grouse of the Western States, and it would require an
expert to distinguish readily the points of difference
between them. But still in coloring, shape of the lance-
olate neck feathers of the male, short tarsus, and gen-
erally smaller size, it has sufficient differences to be
classed as a distinct species.

The Heath Hen is, now at all events, a woodland bird
and dwells among the almost impregnable tracts of
scrubby oaks and pines which cover perhaps an area
of forty square miles, and comprise about all the wooded
portion of Martha's Vineyard. Within this limited area
several hundred birds are assembled, the last remnant
of the great host that at one time was spread over a
number of the Atlantic States. The nature of the coverts
they frequent, difficult for man to penetrate, and their
habit of remaining almost continually in the thick woods,
insures that protection which will probably preserve the
species, even in its diminished numbers, for a long time
to come. Living thus almost entirely in these woods
of scrub oaks, the birds feed on the acorns that lie scat-
tered over the ground, occasionally wandering out into

"7

Il8 GAME BIRDS OF NORTH AMERICA.

the Open to seek for grain, berries, or leaves which afford
them a sHght change of diet, and sometimes in winter,
when the weather is severe and the snow deep, they will
approach the barns or other buildings on the farms, and
pick up whatever they can find in the way of grain or
other suitable food. The nesting season appears to be
a late one, although this is dif^cult to determine, as but
few persons have seen the nest, but young broods have
been met with late in July, which would show that incu-
bation must have commenced somewhere near the begin-
ning of that month. The booming note of the males is
heard in the spring when they commence their courting,
between daybreak and sunrise, and although, on account
of the nature of the ground, the birds are seldom seen,
yet the antics they practice at that time may not vary
from those of the Pinnated Grouse at the same season.
This boorhing sound at all events is very similar to that
made by the Western birds. The eggs have rarely been
taken, but a set of six, in the possession of my friend
Mr. WilHam Brewster of Cambridge, are about the same
size as those of the Pinnated Grouse, perhaps a little
smaller, and buffy white or creamy buff in color, tinged
with greenish and unspotted. The nest is the usual slight
depression in the soil, carelessly lined, and situated
among weeds or anything affording concealment, and
placed near a stump, roots of a tree, or fallen log.

With adequate protection from strictly enforced laws,
aided by the stunted trees and bushes forming a tangled
growth and covering the ground they frequent, there
is no reason why these survivors of a disappearing race
should not be able to preserve the existence of the species
through long series of years yet to come.

HEATH HEiV. 119

TYMPAXUCHVS CUPIDO.

Geographical Disfributwn. — Island of Martha's Vineyard,
Massachusetts. Formerly abundant on Long Island, New Jersey,
Eastern Pennsylvania, and Virginia, but now extinct in all those
localities.

Adult Male. — Closely resembling the previous species, but
distinguishable by its short pointed neck feathers, the tufts com-
posed of not more than ten lanceolate feathers (those of T. ameri-
canus containing more than this number), and by the large ter-
minal whitish buff spots on the scapulars. Length of wing,
about 8i inches; tail, 4.

Female has the lanceolate neck feathers rudimentar}-, and is
slightly smaller than the male.

LESSER PRAIRIE HEN.

A SMALLER, pale-colored variety of the Pinnated
Grouse, inhabiting southwestern Kansas, the western
part of Indian Territory, and western Texas, has been
designated as a separate race under the name given
above. It would not probably be regarded as in any
way different from the Pinnated Grouse by one who
was not an ornithologist and trained to observe technical
or slight distinctions between animals. It is somewhat
different in coloring and appears smaller, though meas-
urements seem to show that the size of the two birds
is pretty nearly equal. In certain parts of Texas, such
as the districts lying to the south and southeast of San
Antonio, this race is very abundant, and is also found,
but in more limited numbers, north of that city. It is
also common in the Indian Territory. Its most southern
range in Texas appears to be just north of Fort Brown,
near the coast. The eggs are somewhat smaller than
those of the Northern Prairie Chicken, and paler in color,
being a creamy or buffy white, covered with very fine
grayish or brownish dots; sometimes the shell is entirely
unspotted. The habits and nesting of this race are prac-
tically not different from those of the species already
described.

TYMPANUCHUS PALLIDICINCTUS.

Geographical Distribution. — Western Texas, through Indian
Territory to Kansas.
Adult Male.— Differs from the Pinnated Grouse in being much

2=;. Lesser Prairie Hen.

LESSER PRAIRIE HEN: I2i

darker above, and barred by light brown or buff, inclosed be-
tween two black bars, as is also the case on the flank feathers;
the brown bars on the pale brown under parts are narrow and
close together, especially on the breast; under tail-coverts, barred
with dark brown and white, and tipped with white; neck tufts,
broad, and feathers rounded at tip; loose skin beneath neck tufts.
Total length, about 15 inches; wing, 8:^; tail, 4.

Adult Female. — Like male, without air sacs on neck, and
rudimentary neck tufts; tail barred with rusty. Wing, 8 inches;
tail, 3|.

ATTWATER'S PRAIRIE HEN.

^T^HIS is another race of the Northern species, and
appears to be restricted to the coast Hne of Louisiana
and Texas. It differs from the other species of the
genus in having the tarsus feathered only on the upper
two-thirds, and a suffusion of cinnamon rufous on
the tufts of long feathers in the neck, which are almost
square at their tips, forming almost a collar in front at
base of neck. In size it is about the same as T.
pallidicinctus.

TYMPANUCHUS A TTWA TERl.

Geographical Distribution. — Gulf coast of Texas and Louisi-
ana.

Adult iT/«/^.— Similar to T. avtericanus, but much darker on
the back and top of head; neck tufts, black on tips and apical
half of outer webs, remainder, buff and cinnamon rufous; base
of neck in front and on sides, cinnamon rufous, with central
buff stripes on feathers, broadening toward the tips; throat and
fore-neck, pale buff spotted with brown; tail, smoky-brown,
whitish buff on margins of outer webs; tarsi, feathered on upper
two-thirds. Total length, 15 inches; wing, ^^\ tail, 3.

Adult female smaller. Total length, 13I inches; wing, 8;
tail, 3.

Downy Young. — Upper parts, pale chestnut; spot on top of
head, and broken line on occiput, and indistinct lines on back,
wings, and rump, black; rest of body lemon yellow, with a rusty
tinge on breast

26. Attwater's Prairie Heu.

/■\N»ir.. v>OC'\/j»ar'

27. Sharp-Tailed Grouse,

SHARP-TAILED GROUSE.

'T'HERE are three races of Sharp-tailed Grouse: a dark
form, almost black in its markings, and two lighter
colored subspecies. The present is the dark style and
has a high Northern dispersion, never coming within the
boundaries of the United States. It ranges throughout
British America as high as 69° of north latitude, and does
not come to the south much below 52°. It has not been
found west of the Rocky Mountains, but occurs on some
of the eastern slopes, is abundant near Great Slave Lake,
and on the Atlantic side of the continent is not uncom-
mon around Hudson Bay.

Mr. MacFarlane has given about all the information
we have of this species in its native haunts, and he says
it breeds in the pine forests on both sides of the Lock-
hart and Anderson rivers, where some nests were taken.
A single brood is raised in a season, and its habits and
economy do not differ from the better known birds liv-
ing within the limits of the L^nion. The jiumber of eggs
ranges from seven to fourteen, of a fawn or very dark
buf¥ color, or olive-brown marked with small spots of
reddish brown. The eggs are much darker in appearance
than those of either of the subspecies, and, like those of
many of the other species of Grouse, the markings can
be easily rubbed ofif, leaving the shell a pale hue, some-
times almost white. Incubation begins very early, before
the snow and ice have vanished in those northern regions,
and nests with eggs have been found as early as the be-
ginning of May. It dwells both in the wooded districts

123

124 GAME BIRDS OF NORTH AMERICA.

and in the open country, and from the striking con-
trast between the black and white of its plumage pre-
sents a very handsome appearance. The legs are very
heavily feathered and the feet also, the toes being com-
pletely covered to the claws, thus affording ample pro-
tection to the bird against the intense cold of the Arctic
regions in which it lives.

Between the typical style of the Sharp-tailed Grouse
and that of the Columbian Sharp-tailed Grouse there is
exhibited in the birds living on our Northern borders and
some distance beyond, every gradation between the dark
Arctic birds and the light-colored ones of the United
States, so that it is impossible to fix any precise limit to
the habitat of either form. It can only be stated that,
as the United States form goes northward it gradually,
by successive degrees, darkens into the typical Grouse
of the Arctic regions, having no especial locality where
the divergence commences. In size it is about the same
as the Columbian Grouse, and doubtless its flesh is
equally palatable.

PEDICECETES PHA SI A NELL US.

Geographical Distribution.— V,v\i\sh. America from Lake
Superior and Hudson Bay to Fort Simpson.

Adtilt Male.— To^ of head, neck, and entire upper parts, black,
barred and mottled everywhere except on top of head, with buff,
the bars narrow, thus making the prevailing color black, instead
of brown or buff; the bars are pale buff on rump and upper tail-
coverts, giving these a lighter appearance than the rest of the
upper parts; wings, like the back, with broad, central white
streaks on the scapulars, and white spots on the coverts and
white bars and tips to the secondaries; primaries, dark chocolate
brown, with equidistant white spots on outer webs; under parts,
white, spotted with black on the throat and front of neck, and
broad V-shaped blackish brown marks near the center of the

SHARP-TAILED GROUSE. 125

feathers, most numerous upon the breast and flanks, and grow-
ing gradually smaller and fewer as they approach the abdomen;
central elongated feathers of the tail, black, irregularly barred
with white and light buff, remainder of feathers, white; under
tail-coverts, white, with a dark brown line along the shafts of
some of the feathers. Legs and toes, covered with hairy light
brown feathers; bill, blackish brown. Total length, about 16
inches; wing, %\\ tail, to end of median feathers, 5^.

Adult Female. — There does not seem to be any particular dif-
ference in the coloration of the sexes, but the female may be
slightly smaller.

COLUMBIAN SHARP-TAILED GROUSE.

I NHABITING the Northwestern States of the Union
from Montana and Wyoming to Washington and
Oregon, on the eastern slopes of the mountains which
there check its progress toward the Pacific, and thence
north through British Columbia to Alaska, this bird is
the Western representative of the race dwelling upon
the prairies of the States lying just east of the Rocky
Mountains. South it goes to Nevada and the north-
eastern part of California. To most persons the two
forms here distinguished as the Columbian and Prairie
Sharp-tailed Grouse would appear to be the same, the
slight differences of color and style of markings not being
sufficiently striking and tangible to be perceived without
having the assistance of an expert to point them out.
And, in truth, the differences are very slight, but never-
theless have been deemed important enough to give the
birds the rank of separate races. The locality of a speci-
men, however, would be of the highest importance, in
many instances, in assisting the decision as to which
race it belonged. This Grouse, known, in addition
to the name given above, as the Pin-tail, Spike-tail
Grouse, and Prairie Chicken, has practically the same
habits as those of its Eastern relative, and is very common
throughout the districts in which it is found. Like the
Prairie Sharp-tail, it keeps to the open country, and if
met with in summer in the wooded portions, it will only
be along their edges, where it has easy access to the
prairie-land.

In the spring, before sunrise, these birds meet together

126

/A^«v<■lu- 5/i<?j)|,a>-il-

28. Columbian Sharp-Tailed Grouse,

COLUMBIAN SHARP-TAILED GROUSE. 127

and " dance " in a similar way to that described in the
article on the Pinnated Grouse, although, if possible,
they are more active in their movements and exhibit
greater excitement. This " saturnalia " is preparatory
to selecting mates for the serious business of the ap-
proaching nesting season, and the males make the most
frantic efforts to cause themselves to appear attractive to
the numerous hens gathered around. They have, like
the Pinnated and some other Grouse, a loose skin on the
sides of the neck, capable of being inflated, swelling out
like two great oranges, one on either side, which emit,
when being exhausted, a sound that has been likened
to a " bubbling crow," quite different to the organ-like
*' boom " of the Prairie Chicken. Incubation begins the
latter part of April, the nest being placed in a bunch of
grass, well concealed from view, and consists of a depres-
sion lined with grass and occasionally some feathers from
the hen's abdomen. On this are deposited from ten to
fifteen eggs, pale buff or brown in color, covered with
very fine reddish brown spots. In about three weeks
the young appear, active little creatures running about
as soon as they are freed from the shell, and are carefully
watched and tended by the hen, who is always ready to
guard and defend them with great courage and deter-
mination. Like the young of all Grouse, insects are the
principal means of subsistence at this early period of their
lives, and later they feed on seeds, leaves, and berries.
Toward September the young are pretty well grown, and
later they pack, assembling in large flocks, and are then
usually wild and difficult to approach. In certain parts
of their dispersion they resort to swamps and near-by
woods. In winter they frequently retire to the timbered
countr}^, probably as a refuge from severe storms and
deep snows, and at this time may often be seen perched

128 GAME BIRDS OF NORTH AMERICA.

on trees. I think, however, this is a common habit of
all Sharp-tailed Grouse if they happen to be in a country
where trees abound, and it is a very usual occurrence in
winter, or early in the morning during the autumn, to
see numbers of Grouse standing or sitting upon the
branches. When flushed they always cackle as they rise,-
and fly swiftly in a straight line, alternately sailing along
and then flapping the wings with a few quick, short
strokes. They are able to go long distances without
stopping, but, as a rule, when not much hunted, they
alight after making a short flight. As the country be-
comes settled this Grouse is more seldom met with, as
it retires to the wilder portions of the land, for, unlike'
the Pinnated Grouse, it is a bird of the wilderness and
shuns man's habitations.

PEDICECETES PHASIANELLUS COLUMBIANUS.

Geographical Distribution. — Eastern Rocky Mountains, from
Montana and Wyoming to Oregon and Washington, then north-
ward west of mountains to Central Alaska.

Adult Male. — Upper parts, grayish buff, with but a little of
the rusty hue (this, if present, confined to the middle of the
back), and barred, mottled, and occasionally blotched with black;
the white markings and spots on scapulars and wings not so con-
spicuous as in the previous species, when contrasted with the
hue of the general plumage; throat and sides of face pale buff,
with a cluster of brown spots on the cheeks; breast, light buff,
rest of under parts and flanks, white, all with longitudinal lines
of blackish brown, sometimes rounded at the tip, sometimes in-
clined to aV-shape; lengthened central tail feathers, like the
rump, lateral ones grayish white, barred with blackish brown, es-
pecially on outer webs; under tail-coverts, white barred with black-
ish brown, chiefly on the outer webs ; legs, covered to the toes
with brownish white feathers ; maxilla, horn color ; mandible,
brownish white. Total length, about 15^ inches; wing, 7f ; tail, 4^.

Adult Female. — Closely resembles the male, but the central
tail feathers barely extend beyond the lateral ones.

29. Prairie Sharp-Tailed Grouse.

PRAIRIE SHARP-TAILED GROUSE.

'HpHIS race of the Sharp-tailed Grouse ranges from
Montana on the north to Wisconsin and Ilhnois on
the east, Colorado on the west, and New Mexico on the
south. This is practically its present distribution, but
doubtless long ago its eastern limit was much nearer to
the Atlantic Coast than it is now, but the bird was forced
westward by the advance of civilization and settlement of
the country, and its place occupied by the Pinnated
Grouse, which follows man's footsteps as he penetrates
into the wilderness. This process is indeed going on to-
day, and yearly the range of the Sharp-tailed Grouse is
becoming more restricted as it is hemmed in by settle-
ments from every side. Although it is generally re-
garded as exclusively a prairie bird, this is a mistaken
idea, as has been shown in the account of the Northern
and Western forms, which do in certain localities frequent
the woods, and there is no reason whatever to suppose
that in earlier times these birds were not as much at
home, and throve as well in forest-covered districts, as did
the Prairie Chicken at one time, when it was abundant on
large tracts of the Atlantic Coast, or as the remnant left
does to-day on Martha's Vineyard.

The habits of this well-known bird do not differ from
those of the Western race already described, nor indeed
from those of the Pinnated Grouse. In the early spring,
in the month of April, when perhaps in many parts of
their habitat in the northern regions, the snow still

remains upon the ground, the birds, both males and

129

130 GAME BIRDS OF NORTH AMERICA.

females, assemble at some favorite place just as day is
breaking, to go through a performance as curious as it is
eccentric. The males with ruffled feathers, spread tails,
expanded air sacs on the neck, heads drawn toward
the back, and drooping wings (in fact the whole body
puffed out as nearly as possible into the shape of a ball
on two stunted supports), strut about in circles, not all
going the same way, but passing and crossing each other
in various angles. As the " dance " proceeds the excite-
ment of the birds increases, they stoop toward the
ground, twist and turn, make sudden rushes forward
stamping the ground with short quick beats of the feet,
leaping over each other in their frenzy, then lowering
their heads, exhaust the air in the sacs, producing a hol-
low sound that goes reverberating through the still air
of the breaking day. Suddenly they become quiet, and
walk about like creatures whose sanity is unquestioned,
when some male again becomes possessed, and starts off
on a rampage, and the " attack " from which he suffers
becomes infectious and all the other birds at once give
evidences of having taken the same disease, which then
proceeds with a regular development to the usual con-
clusion. As the sun gets well above the horizon, and
night's shadows have all been hurried away, the antics of
the birds cease, the booming no longer resounds over the
prairie, and the Grouse scatter in search of food, and in
pursuit of their daily avocations. While this perform-
ance is always to be seen in the spring, it is not unusually
indulged in for a brief turn in the autumn, and while it
may be considered as essentially a custom of the breed-
ing season, yet like the drumming of the Ruffed Grouse,
it may be regarded also as an exhibition of the birds'
vigor and vitality, indulged in at periods of the year even
when the breeding season has long passed.

PRAIRIE SHARP-TAILED GROUSE. 131

There seems to be no spot especially favored by the
hen as a site for the nest, so long as it affords suitable
concealment. With the shelter of some bush, along the
bank of a stream where the cover is somewhat dense,
or in the midst of a clump of weeds, in thickets on the
hillside, or in a bunch of grass out on the open prairie,
she is equally satisfied, and in a slight hollow arched over
with grass deposits her eggs. These are precisely
like those of the Columbian Sharp-tailed Grouse, and the
usual number in a clutch is about a dozen, though some-
times considerably more are laid, and but one brood is
raised in a season. The hen is a very close sitter, and
her plumage harmonizes so well with her surroundings
that it is a very difficult matter to discover her on the
nest. In about three weeks the chicks appear, and the
mother is very solicitous for their welfare, leading them
in search of insects, which at first comprise their means of
subsistence, and keeping them near some thickets where
they can easily hide on the approach of danger. She
clucks to them like a domestic hen, and shelters them
under her wings from the storm. In spite of all her care
many a downy chick disappears, borne away in the talons
of some Hawk which has swooped suddenly upon the
brood from an unlooked for quarter, or else a watchful
fox or other quadruped, or gliding snake, has snatched
one of the little creatures as it chased some flying insect.
Not many of the members of a brgod that is hatched
reach maturity, for numerous vacancies from various
causes are usually created in the ranks. Toward the last
of September the young are about full grown, and at this
time they lie well to the dog, and generally are not wild.
The flock does not rise simultaneously, always some of
its members remaining after the others are well upon the
wing. As they flush they utter a cackling cry, and this

132 GAME BIRDS OF NORTH AMERICA.

is often repeated with each beat of the wings, even after
they have flown for some distance. The flight is mostly
performed in a straight Hne, except where the nature of
the ground makes it an impossibihty,and is swift, the bird
being borne along by alternate flappings and sailings.
When the wings are held motionless, they are much
curved, with the primaries spread far apart toward the
tips, and turned down. If many coveys occupy similar
tracts of country they keep their little family parties sepa-
rate and distinct from each other, and if they have not
been much molested will permit one to approach very
near them without exhibiting any signs of alarm. In
the autumn, in such localities as the Bad Lands of the
Dakotas, they are in the habit of passing much of their
time in the ''coulees" or wooded ravines, into which they
always fly for shelter if by chance they have been flushed
anywhere in the open grounds, or among the buttes.
When scattered in these ravines excellent sport can be
had with them, as they He close and generally rise singly,
and as the sportsman is frequently above them, they
present easy marks as they fly out of the bushes into the
open, or rise above the cover if declining to leave the
place of refuge.

The Prairie Sharp-tail or White-belly, as it is some-
times called, is partly migratory, and, as I have already
said, its habits vary somewhat in the different seasons,
being a good deal of a prairie dweller in the summer, but
more of a woodland bird in the winter. But this is natural,
as it would not be likely to remain on the storm-swept
plains during the severe weather, if the shelter that the
trees afforded was near at hand and easily secured. In
the autumn and winter the flocks unite and form great
packs of several hundred individuals and are then wary
and very watchful, running swiftly away from any object

PRAIRIE SHARP-TAILED GROUSE. 133

that alarms them, or taking wing when yet a long dis-
tance off. The flight is also much more protracted at
this time, the packs frequently keeping on until lost to
view.

At this period they are in the habit of perching much
in trees, frequently on the tops of houses or any out-
lying buildings. I have often seen a tree nearly full of
Grouse, so thickly were they assembled on the branches,
some sitting close to the limbs looking more like great
bunches without any particular shape at all, while others
would stand upright in a stiff, constrained attitude, with
the neck drawn out to its fullest extent and held motion-
less, and the legs showing to the full extent of the thighs.
Sometimes they will remain in such situations even
though shot at more than once, and occasionally a num-
ber may be killed, if the lowest in the tree is selected,
so that the falling body may not alarm the living birds
and cause them to take flight. They appear much mag-
nified when on the bran :hes, especially if their forms be
sharply outlined against the sky. If much hunted their
behavior in the trees changes, and as £oon as anyone is
seen approaching, the birds are at once on the qui z'ive,
and, motionless, regard intently the object of their fears.
Soon a warning kliick is heard, every head is raised and
neck outstretched, and then with a loud kliick one bird
takes wing, to be followed immediately by all the rest, ut-
tering many kluck-klucks as they go. Usually they alight
at no great distance, but their watchfulness is not less-
ened, and if pursued, the same tactics are repeated. The
food of this Grouse consists of insects, leaves, berries,
and, w^herever it grows, the hips of the wild rose, whose
hard seeds, answering the purpose of gravel in helping to
grind the food, are greedily eaten. It also feeds on grain
when readily accessible, for as a rule these birds do not

134 GAME BIRDS OF NORTH AMERICA.

keep much about cultivated lands, and enter fields prob-
ably more for the insects they may be able to find there
than with the view of obtaining grain. The flesh of the
Prairie Sharp-tail is like its congeners', light-colored when
the bird is young but dark in the adult, and if you are not
compelled by stress of circumstances to eat it three times
a day, as I have been, is very palatable. It is a noble
bird, game in the fullest and truest sense of the word,
and presents a beautiful sight as it walks easily and grace-
fully over the prairie, raising at intervals its lengthened
crest, and looking back at its observer, with its clear
liquid eyes betokening a trust and confidence that is, alas!
too often misplaced. The Sharp-tailed and the Pinnated
Grouse often meet on the limits of their dispersion, but
rarely mingle together, for they are deadly enemies and
engage in desperate battles; the habits and dispositions
of the birds causing them to lead different lives and seek
dissimilar habitats. To my mind the Sharp-tail is the
finer and handsomer bird.

PEDICECETES PHASIANELLUS CAMPESTRIS.

Geographical Dis/ri'biition. — Prairies east of Rocky Moun-
tains from Montana to New Mexico, and from Wisconsin and
Illinois to Colorado.

Adult Male. — Entire upper parts, buff, ochraceous upon back
and scapulars, blotched and barred with black; scapulars
streaked with white, and large white spots on tips of wing-cov-
erts; primaries, dark brown, spotted with white on outer webs;
spot in front of eye, sides of face and throat, light buff, with a
cluster of brown spots on the cheeks; under parts, w^hite, with
lengthened V-shaped brown lines on each feather, most numer-
ous on breast, where they are the predominant color; middle of
abdomen and under tail-coverts, white; central tail feathers ex-
tend beyond the rest, and are barred with black and ochraceous;
legs, brownish white: maxilla, black, mandible, horn color at

PRAIRIE SHARP-TAILED GROUSE. 1 35

base, black at tip. Total length, about i6| inches; wing, 8^;
tail, 5i.

Adult Female is slightly smaller than the male, and the central
tail feathers are shorter. Otherwise resembles him in her plum-
age.

Downy Young. — Upper parts, buff, irregularly marked with
lines and spots of black, broadest upon the back; wings, barred
with white and black; under parts, lemon yellow, inclined to
buff upon the breast; bill, light yellow; culmen, brown.

SAGE GROUSE.

I ARGEST of all American Grouse, and only exceeded
in size by the Cock of the Woods or Capercailzie of
the Old World, the Sage Grouse is an inhabitant of the
barren plains where the sage bush (Artemisia) grows,
the leaves of which constitute its principal food. Its
range is from Assiniboia and British Columbia in the
north to New Mexico in the south, and from the Da-
kotas in the east to California, Oregon, and Washington
in the west. It is a resident and breeds wherever found,
and only makes a partial migration when the sage bushes
become hidden beneath great falls of snow, compelling it
to seek other localities with less elevation. The Cock of
the Plains is rarely met with far from the localities covered
by the sage bush, for the leaves of this plant appear to be
a necessity for its existence. Although its crop may
show that other food has been swallowed, yet the major
portion of the contents will always be sage leaves, and
these impart a very bitter and disagreeable taste to the
flesh, if the bird is not drawn immediately after it is killed.
Besides these leaves, this species feeds on insects, berries,
wild pease, the pods and blossoms of various plants, and
grain.

Its stomach is a soft and membranous bag, and it has,
properly speaking, no gizzard. This would seem to indi-
cate that the bird was not a grain feeder, but individuals
have been killed whose stomachs were filled with wheat,
showing that, in spite of a lack of grinding power, the
bird is able to digest grain. Its diet, however, is chiefly

136

KAvvov- o|veyiiavcV

30. Sage Grouse.

SAGE GROUSE. 137

leaves and the tender portions of plants. It is a hardy
bird, bearing the extremes of heat and cold apparently
without inconvenience, and I have seen it walking
leisurely about under the rays of a torrid sun, or exposed
to the fierce, keen blasts of a December storm that
would make most creatures seek the nearest shelter.

During the blizzards and other heavy storms that so
frequently sweep over the country it inhabits, the Sage
Cock takes refuge amid the dense clumps of the sage
bushes, or in the '' coulees " or small valleys that inter-
sect the plains at intervals, where it obtains sufficient
protection from the blasts. Although this species is so
large, its plumage harmonizes so well with the bird's
surroundings that it is at times exceedingly diffi-
cult to see it, and it is not an unusual occurrence to pass
wMthin a few feet of one or more Sage Grouse, without
noticing them at all, if they remain motionless, as they
generally do. Early in March the pairing season begins,
and the male commences to court the females. His
actions at this time are not unlike those of the Pinnated
and Sharp-tailed Grouse already described, but the air
sacs on each side of the neck, when inflated, are so
enormous that the bird appears much more grotesque
than the males oT the other species. These air bladders
extend both forward and upward, and his head prac-
tically disappears between them, making his neck seem
altogether too top-heavy for him to preserve his balance.
The long pointed feathers of the tail are spread out to
the fullest extent, the wings trail along the ground, and
the spiny feathers along the air sacs stand straight out.
In this ludicrous attitude, which no doubt the bird con-
siders as the very acme of perfect beauty and attractive-
ness, he struts before the admiring gaze of the assembled
hens, uttering subdued guttural sounds. This exhibition

138 GAME BIRDS OF NORTH AMERICA,

having accomplished its legitimate purpose, a suitable
place is selected for the nest, generally under some sage
bush. The receptacle for the eggs is a very primitive
affair, a slight hollow, sparsely lined with grass and a few
feathers; or sometimes the eggs are dropped upon the
bare ground. These are quite large, olive-buff in color,
tinged with green, covered with dots and spots of choco-
late brown, and vary considerably from each other, some
being of a pale green tint with sharply defined spots of
chocolate, others a pale buff without any tinge of green,
thickly covered with fine chocolate dots, or spotted and
dotted with the same. These markings are all super-
ficial and can be easily wiped off, leaving the ^^^ a uni-
form greenish white. The number usually found in a
nest varies from seven to seventeen, the latter, however,
being quite unusual. Ten would seem to be about a fair
average.

About three weeks is the period of incubation, and the
hen is a very close sitter, and will seldom leave her nest
until almost trodden upon, which occurrence is very
likely to happen, as it is such a difificult matter to distin-
guish her from the objects around. While the hen is
sitting, and also when she is rearing the young, the male
takes no share in her duties, nor troubles himself in any
way with her cares and anxieties, but amuses himself in
the company of other cocks as neglectful of their wives
as himself, and they do not join the coveys until the
young have attained their full growth. When half
grown the flesh of the Sage Hen is very tender and
palatable, but even then the bird must be drawn as soon
as killed. It is not always easy to flush these birds, as
they will run long distances before taking wing, and
skulk and hide at every opportunity. But when forced
to rise, they flush with a great fluttering of the wings and

SAGE GROUSE. 1 39

utter a loud kek-kck-kek, which kind of cackle is kept up
for quite a considerable time. They seem to have diffi-
culty in getting well on the wing, and rise heavily, wab-
bling from side to side as if trying to gain an equilibrium,
but once started they go far and fast enough, with inter-
mittent quick beats of the pinions and easy sailing on
motionless wings.

As a rule the Sage Grouse is not very wild, and a
covey, when anyone draws near, will at first walk quietly
along, frequently within easy gunshot, and it is not until
they are persistently followed, or one suddenly dashes
into a covey, that they take wing. It requires a hard
blow to bring them down, and large shot are necessary to
kill them, for they are capable, even if severely wounded,
of carrying away large quantities of lead, and will fly a
long distance, probably not stopping until life is extinct.
The number in a covey is usually small, much less than is
observed in many other species of Grouse, ranging, ac-
cording to my observation, from seven to ten, often not
over five or six. These are probably the survivors of the
original brood which has been decimated by adverse
weather, such as heavy storms and wet seasons, during
which many chicks succumb to the onslaught of various
enemies both furred and feathered, not to mention man,
the most destructive enemy of all.

In the winter the coveys gather together in great packs;
sometimes a hundred birds are assembled in one immense
flock, and great is the commotion and loud the whirring
and beating of wings and vociferous cackling when from
any cause they rise in the air. The members of a family
roost in a circle on the ground, in the manner described
in the article on Bob White, so that in case of alarm each
great bird has a fair way of escape directly in front of
him, without danger of being impeded or incommoded

I40 GAME BIRDS OF NORTH AMERICA.

by his neighbor as he rises from the ground. It never
perches or settles in trees, but sometimes is seen mounted
on a branch of a sage bush, a few feet from the ground.
It keeps away from the woods, and is, as its name impHes,
a bird of the plains, a familiar feature of those vast, desert,
treeless districts, covered by the peculiar pale green sage
bush. The Sage Grouse may be able to go a long time
without water, but if it is readily obtained, as when
they are in the vicinity of a spring or small stream, they
are accustomed to drink twice a day, in the early morn-
ing, and again at evening. Sometimes considerable
numbers are gathered together at such places, espe-
cially if the localities which contain a supply of water
are widely separated. Like the Pinnated and Sharp-
tailed Grouse, members of flocks of the present species
do not all flush together, but always one or more
remain after the main body is on the wing; and when
hunting them, it is not well to take it for granted
that all have departed until the ground in the vicinity
has been well searched, for it is pretty certain that
at least one bird will be found which had vainly con-
sidered itself, securely hidden and safe from discovery.
The Sage Grouse is a large and heavy bird, the males
frequently measuring two and a half feet in length, and
weighing at times as much as eight pounds. The female
is considerably smaller, so much so that occasionally
the discrepancy is so great as to cause remark; but
as may be supposed in such large birds, the indi-
viduals of neither sex are always of the same size, and
those of lesser growth can find, if needed, mates not dis-
proportionate to themselves. It is a splendid bird,
which any country may be proud to claim as native to
its boundaries, and may it long be preserved to enliven
the desolate regions among which it dwells!

SAGE GROUSE. 141

CENTROCERCUS UROPHASIANUS.

Geographical Distribution. — British Columbia and Assiniboia
in the north to New Mexico, Utah, and Nevada. East to the
Dakotas, Nebraska, and Colorado, and west to California,
Oregon, and Washington.

Adult Male. — Upper parts, light brown or grayish, barred with
black, dark brown, and grayish, sometimes blotched with black;
wings, like the back, with borders of tertials. and central streaks
and bars of some of the coverts, white; primaries, grayish
brown, lighter on their outer webs; tail, composed of twenty
cuneate feathers, graduated to a filamentous point, the central
ones like the back, remainder black, barred with light buff for
two-thirds their length from the base; top of head and neck,
grayish buff, barred with black, chin, throat, and cheeks, white,
spotted on first with black, sometimes this part is all black; a
blackish line from mouth passes under the eye, and over the ear-
coverts; a white line extends from behind the eye down side of
neck; fore-neck, black, bordered with grayish white; chest, gray,
with the shafts of feathers very stiff and black; flanks, barred
broadly with blackish brown and buffy white, occasionally a buff
line in center of black bar, sometimes mottled with black; ab-
domen and rest of lower parts, jet-black; under tail-coverts,
black, broadly tipped with white; bill, black. Total length,
about 28 inches; wing, 13; tail, 13. Weight, 5 to 8 pounds.

On sides of neck is a loose skin which, in the breeding season,
is inflated into two enormous yellow sacs, and by the exhaustion
of the air a loud, booming sound is produced.

Adult Female. — Like the male, but much smaller, the chin
and throat, pure white. Total length, about 22 inches; wing,
10^; tail, 8i.

Downy Youfig. — Upper parts, grayish brown, irregularly
marked and blotched with black, most conspicuous on the head.
Markings of lower parts indistinctly defined.

WILLOW PTARMIGAN.

T N the northern portions of the Northern Hemisphere,
dwelHng amid the snow and desolate places, the
Willow Grouse ranges throughout the Arctic regions of
the globe, and is found around the world in the high lati-
tudes. In the New World it is a resident of the fur
countries, and dwells from the Arctic Ocean to Sitka and
the Chilcat Peninsula on the Pacific Coast, and across
the Continent, in the east, coming down in winter to
northern New York. In the latter season it is very
abundant in different portions of Canada. In the spring
the Ptarmigan descends to the low grounds and the
male begins his singular maneuvers to entice some
female to join him. Selecting some particular spot, gen-
erally a slight elevation, he struts about with lowered
wings and expanded tail, head thrown back, and the red
combs over the eyes erect and conspicuous, takes a short
flight upward, and then sails around in a circle, descend-
ing slowly on curved wings, alighting usually at or near
the place from which he arose, uttering all the time short
quick notes resembling a petulant, hoarse bark. Regain-
ing his first position he calls in a different note several
times repeated, and in a few moments again makes his
circular flight.

If the birds are numerous in the locality many males
will be seen executing similar movements, and the air re-
sounds with their barking notes. In due course the
females appear in the vicinity, and then the males are ex-
cited to frenzy and desperate battles occur among them,

142

31. Willow Ptarmigan.

WILLOW PTARMIGAN. 143

carried on with great energy and undaunted resolution,
the feathers flying in all directions. The birds at this
period are usually in the transition plumage from winter
to summer, some red feathers having already begun
to appear on the neck, but the regular moult is not
really completely finished until several weeks later. By
the middle of May the birds have about all succeeded
in obtaining mates, and the nesting season begins. A
shallow depression in the ground is lined loosely with
dried leaves and grass, and on an average eight or
nine eggs are deposited; sometimes as many as thir-
teen and even seventeen have been found in one nest.
They differ greatly in detail, though having a general
resemblance. The shape varies from an ovate to an
elongate ovate, and the ground color from cream to red-
dish buff, frequently hidden by a mass of dark reddish,
blackish brown, or black blotches and vermiculations,
which cover nearly all the shell. Sometimes these are
small and mingled together in a confused mass, and again
they are distributed in patches, groups, or singly with
some indications of form, very irregular though it may
be, and no two eggs are exactly alike. Occasionally if,
after the complement of eggs has been laid, they are all
removed, the hen will deposit another set of about, if not
quite, the same number.

The period of incubation is about seventeen days, and
the chicks follow the parents as soon as hatched. Only
one brood is raised in a season. Unlike the majority of
the members of the Grouse family, the male Ptarmigan
remains constantly in the vicinity of the nest while the
female is sitting, and expresses the strongest disappro-
bation of which he is capable at any interference w:ith the
process of incubation, and especially if an attempt is made
to carry away the eggs, uttering his hoarse call in angry

144 GAME BIRDS OF NORTH A iM ERICA.

remonstrance. Both parents are very devoted to, and
solicitous for, their young, and will permit anyone to
come very near, indeed almost touch them, when they are
accompanied by their chicks. The hen sits very close
during incubation, leaving the nest only for short inter-
vals, and so unwilling is she to desert her treasures that
she will permit herself almost to be trodden upon, and
frequently she has allowed herself to be captured by
hand rather than secure her own safety by flight. Be-
fore incubation is finished, she becomes quite denuded
of feathers on the abdomen. The young are pretty
creatures, very captivating, as are all chicks, and have a
downy dress of greenish bufif or sulphur yellow, deco-
rated with chestnut and black. When they are half
grown they begin to fly, but do not attain their full size
until late in the autumn.

Ptarmigan, as it appears to me, are in a constant state
of moult; and I have rarely seen a specimen that did not
have pin-feathers on some part of its body, no matter at
what period of the year it was killed. The assumption
of the summer plumage commences on the neck, where a
few colored feathers appear, and the birds, during the
transition from the pure w^hite winter garb to the bright
summer dress, present a curious piebald and mottled ap-
pearance. They do not all moult at the same time, some
assuming the complete nuptial dress considerably before
the rest, and it is difficult to determine whether one sex
is in advance of the other in moulting, and if so, which
one it is. The cold rains and damp heavy fogs and mists,
so prevalent in the regions frequented by these birds,
cause the death of numbers of the young, to whom a
complete wetting is usually fatal, and many also perish
at the loss of the old birds, which have met their fate
either by gun or snare, when the little creatures were too

WILLOW PTARMIGAN. 145

small to take care of themselves. The Indians destroy
a great many, for chicken Grouse, even if still in the t^Z,
is considered a great delicacy by them.

During the winter Ptarmigan feed on the small twigs
of the willow and various bushes, and as the snow dis-
appears, on any berries that may have remained from the
last autumn, frozen though they may be, and later, on
insects of various kinds. In the spring the birds make
a partial migration, coming from the shelter of the valleys
and forests, where they have passed the winter, into the
open country when the bare spots left by the vanishing
snow begin to appear. In the autumn also they seek
the shelter of the woods and travel to the southward, and
when the snow has covered the landscape these birds,
when migrating, assemble in great flocks, sometimes
amounting to many thousands, and <^he noise of their
myriad wings, as tlie great host rises from the ground,
makes, as it has been expressed, '* both the air and
earth to tremble." When young the flesh of the Ptar-
migan is white and delicate, but that of the adult is dark
and of little flavor, save when the bird has been feeding
on the buds of the willow, when it is rather bitter.

Immense numbers are taken in snares by the Esqui-
maux and Indians of the frozen North; one man
frequently, in a single day, capturing a sledge-load.
This great slaughter is accomplished while the birds
are migrating to or from their summer resorts. A
number of bushes is set out across the line of their
march and the branches filled with nooses of sinew,
and the birds come in such great numbers that they
are captured in thousands, entering the snares so
fast that a man cannot kill and release them quickly
enough. Another method is to take advantage of the
pugnacity and amorous feeling of the male during

146 GAME BIRDS OF NORTH AMERICA.

the breeding season. A native takes a stuffed skin of
a cock and secure it to a stick thrust in the body. He
then seeks a spot where a pair are busily occupied with
their marital duties, and, fastening a small net, which
he carries with him, to the ground, places the decoy bird
near it. In a few moments the live male sees it and
comes immediately forward ready for a fight, frequently
seizing the counterfeit and pulling and tugging at it with
great determination. While so engaged the net is
dropped over him, and his warfare is soon finished.

Like the Ruffed Grouse and other members of the
family, the Ptarmigan frequently passes the night under
the snow, diving into it head first, and emerging again
in the morning with a sudden leap into the air. Neither
when entering or leaving the snow is a foot ever put
upon it, and this precaution is doubtless to prevent the
discovery of the bird's hiding place by any quadruped
who might otherwise be able to track it 'by following the
scent left by the feet, and pounce upon it in its sleeping
quarters. Doubtless many perish in such places by a
crust forming during the night, when the birds would be
imprisoned, but probably, in the high latitudes in which
Ptarmigan usually dwell, thaws are very infrequent
and the danger from that source much lessened. The
change from the summer dress to the pure white one of
winter takes place in the autumn, and is effected much
more rapidly than is the assumption of the summer
plumage. The feathers change on the abdomen first
and on the back and head last, the reverse of the spring
moult. In the far North this bird, together with the
caribou, constitutes the most important food supply
of the natives of those bleak regions, without which they
would frequently be in danger of starvation; but the birds
abound in such numbers, and they are naturally so fear-

%

32. Willow Ptarmigan in Winter.

iviLLOiv ptarmigan: 147

less and tame, rarely making any very serious effort
to escape from man (even in more southern localities,
where they are much hunted), that it is not a very diffi-
cult matter, even without firearms, to secure at one time
enough to satisfy the members of a moderately large
community.

LA GO PUS LA GO PUS.

Geographical Distribution. — Arctic regions of both Hemi-
spheres. In America ranging south to Sitka and British Prov-
inces, Newfoundland, accidental in New England.

Adult Male in Sununer Plumage. — Top of head, back of neck,
and entire upper parts, barred with chestnut, ochraceous, and
black, some feathers having their central portions all black, form-
ing blotches, and more or less of the feathers tipped with grayish
white; scapulars and tertialslike the back; primaries, white, with
dark brown shafts; secondaries, white, with white shafts; in some
specimens the shafts of the primaries are nearly black, and the
coloring extends over a portion of the inner web; throat, sides of
neck, and breast, light chestnut, darkest on lower part of breast,
barred everywhere except on throat with black; flanks, dark
brown, barred and mottled with black, occasionally a buff bar
appearing among the black ones; entire rest of under parts, with
legs and toes, pure white; upper tail-coverts, like the back; tail,
black, extreme base and tip, white; bill, black. Total length,
about 14 inches; wing, yf ; tail, 5^.

Some examples have the sides of head, throat, fore-neck, and
upper parts of breast uniform chestnut, becoming darker at
times, indeed almost black toward the white under parts.

Adult Female in Summer Plumage. — Top of head, back of
neck, and entire upper parts, with upper tail-coverts, black, barred
with ochraceous, and feathers tipped with white; scapulars, ter-
tials, and some of the wing-coverts, like the back ; throat, sides
and front of neck, buff, with an ochraceous tinge on cheeks,
barred irregularly with black, the bars taking more the form of
spots on the throat; entire rest of under parts and under tail-
coverts, buff, coarsely barred with black, some feathers having
nearly white tips; primaries and secondaries, white, the former
with dark brown shafts; tail, brownish black, tipped with white,

148 GAME BIRDS OF NORTH AMERICA.

and base also white; legs and toes covered with brownish white
feathers; bill, black. Total length, about 14 inches; wing, 7f ;
tail, 5i.

Downy Yoiaig. — General color of body, olive-buff, tinged with
ochraceous on breast, back, and wings; throat and under parts
lightest; top of head and occiput, chestnut, bordered with black;
spot on lores, ear-coverts, line down hind-neck and broader lines
on back, black.

IVIn/er Plumage. — Entire body, pure white; tail, black,
tipped with white.

ALLEN'S PTARMIGAN.

npHIS bird, which is an inhabitant of Newfoundland,
has been separated from the Willow Grouse as a sub-
species on what must be considered as very slight and in-
sufficient grounds. It is a very common species in the
island, frequenting similar localities as does the Willow
Grouse on the continent of America, and in its economy
and habits in no way differs from that species. It is
called Partridge by some, and feeds on seeds and buds
and leaves of various trees and bushes; and great num-
bers of them are killed annually. It bears a very close
resemblance to the Willow Grouse, and requires more
than an expert to discover wherein it differs; the chief
and about the only perceptible distinction claimed is that
the shafts of the secondaries and primaries are black in-
stead of white. The description given of the habits of
the Willow Grouse in the previous article will, in nearly
all particulars, answer perfectly well for the present bird.
From the specimens which I have examined at various
times during the past thirty years I fail to find any which
present characters that would enable the Newfoundland
bird to be distinguished from the Willow Grouse of other
localities. The describer of Allen's Ptarmigan estab-
lished the race upon the " shafts of both primaries and
secondaries black, and by having the wing feathers, even
some of the coverts marked and mottled with blackish."
These characters do not seem to be reliable, and there
are at present before me two males belonging to the
collection of the American Museum of Natural History,

149

I^o GAME BIRDS OF NORTH AMERICA.

New York, numbered 26,857 ^"^ 26,858 respectively,
from Humbert River, Newfoundland, collected by L. A.
Zerega on September 15, 1886, which are so like the
Fort Chimo bird described under Lagopus lagopus that
the description there given will answer perfectly well for
them. The shafts of the secondaries in both are pure
white, and the shafts of primaries are a blackish brown,
this color extending a little upon the webs near the tips.
The color of the upper parts is almost identically the
same, but one of the Newfoundland birds has more
feathers tipped with grayish white, which is to be ex-
pected, as the specimen was killed five days later in the
year than the Fort Chimo bird. If there is a distinct
race of the Willow Grouse in Newfoundland, then the
specific form is also found there, and it is very unlikely
that birds from the same island, so closely allied, would
maintain recognizable characters sufficient to separate
them, when it is notorious that individuals even of the
same flock vary so greatly from each other, both in color
and markings, that it is practically impossible to procure
two exactly alike at any season of the year. When writ-
ing my monograph of the Tetraoninae I had a number
of Newfoundland birds sent to me Ly the late Professor
Baird, and I was unable then to discover any character
sufficient to separate them from other Willow Grouse,
and before we can accept a new race from that island
as an established fact I think other and better characters
than any yet known will have to be established.

33- Rock Ptarmigan.

ROCK PTARMIGAN.

A LONG the Alaskan coast, from the peninsula and
^^ Behring Sea, throughout the mountains of the in-
terior, and across the Arctic regions of North America
to Hudson Bay, southern Labrador, and the island of
Greenland, the Rock Ptarmigan is a constant resident;
frequenting low hills, or higher ranges in the summer,
going down to the valleys during winter for shelter from
the severity of the Northern climate at that season. It
is also found on the Barren Grounds (the height of land
lying between the Anderson and Wilmot Horton or Mac-
Farlane rivers and thence inward to the western sea-bank
of Franklin Bay), but is not so plentiful there as the
Willow Grouse. It is more a bird of the mountains, and
prefers to remain on elevated summits throughout the
summer and amid precipitous slopes and rugged cliffs.
It is a smaller bird than the Willow Grouse, and can
always be distinguished from it by the black stripe run-
ning from the bill to the eye, which is present in both
the summer and winter dress of the males.

In Alaska nesting begins in April, but in the eastern
part of the birds' range not until the middle of June,
sometimes even later. The nest resembles that of the
Willow Ptarmigan, but the number of eggs is less, about
seven, though occasionally many more are found in one
nest — whether the product of one hen or not it would be
difficult to say, but the probabilities are in favor of such
a supposition, as I am not aware of any instance w^here
two hens have been observed to occupy the same nest.

152 GAME BIRDS OF NORTH AMERICA.

The eggs are hardly distinguishable from those of the
Willow Grouse, but are smaller, and the markings rather
less inclined to run into blotches, and possibly more dis-
tinct on that account. The female, like the Willow Ptar-
migan, sits very closely on her nest, and it is very
difficult to discover her, even when she is in an exposed
position. During the mating season the male goes
through similar antics to the Willow Grouse, uttering
harsh, guttural notes in the air and descending on stif-
fened wings. At this time the combs over the eyes
become a brilliant orange red, and at each end is a fila-
mentous fringe, very conspicuous. He struts also in a
similar manner to his relative, with spread tail and trail-
ing wings, the neck frequently outstretched and lowered,
and uttering at the same time a curious croak.

This species does not collect in large flocks, small
parties usually going together as if they were only the
members of one family, which is probably the case, and
there is less pugnacity exhibited than is witnessed among
the Willow Grouse. The change of plumage from win-
ter to summer and vice versa takes place about the same
time as in the other species, and these birds always seem
to have pin-feathers amid their plumage, as if the per-
fect costume had never at any time been quite attained,
and this, I believe, is the fact among the majority of
individuals, for even when one part of the body is in full
dress other portions are in a transition state, and when
these last are perfected, the first have already begun to
change. And if a bird succeeds in arranging himself
entirely in a full suit, he must be able to wear it but for
a very brief period. The habits of this species are very
similar to the Willow Grouse.

1

M..,. ..e^p

34. Rock Ptarmigan in Winter.

ROCK PTARMIGAN. 153

LA GO PUS RUPESTRIS.

Geographical Distribution. — Arctic America, Alaska to Labra-
dor, south to Gulf of St. Lawrence, Greenland.

Adult Male in Summer. — Head, neck, and upper parts, gray,
barred with black, and irregular rusty bars on the head, back of
neck, upper back and scapulars, and black blotches on upper
part of back; wings, like the back; primaries and outer second-
aries, white, with brownish black shafts on the primaries; upper
tail-cov^erts, gray, barred with black, and occasionally rusty, some
feathers with white tips; tail, blackish brown, lighter on margins;
breast, dark brown, feathers barred with white and black; entire
rest of under parts and legs, pure white; lores, black; bill, black.
Total length, 14 inches; wing, 7I; tail, 4I. Specimen from
Labrador.

Adult Female in Summer. — Shot Jul}^ 31. Head, entire upper
parts, and wings, black, irregularly barred with white and deep
buff, feathers generally tipped with white, broadest on upper
tail-coverts, many of which have their outer margins deep buff;
tail, smok^'-brown, tipped with white; throat, breast, and flanks,
ochraceous, barred with black, some white feathers showing;
middle of abdomen, white; crissum and under tail-coverts, och-
raceous, barred with black; feathers on thighs and legs, white;
primaries, white, with pale brown shafts; secondaries and most
of the wing-coverts, also white; bill, black. Total length, about
13 inches; wing, 7; tail, 4^. Specimen from Quickiock Falls,
Labrador.

REINHARDT'S PTARMIGAN.

XJORTHERN Labrador, the islands on the west of the
^ Cumberland Gulf, Greenland, and both shores down
to Hudson Strait, include the range of this Ptarmigan.
It is common in Greenland and in the more elevated por-
tions of Labrador. It appears to be a bird of the open
and barren country, differing in this respect from the
other species just preceding, which pass much of the
year in wooded districts. The coveys scatter in May,
when nesting and courting begin. Mr. Turner, who has
had excellent opportunities for observing this bird in
Labrador, says that at this period the male does not
spring into the air like the Willow Grouse, but, with
spreading tail and dragging wings, runs around the
object of his affections, or else, with his breast pressed
against the ground and outstretched neck, he strives to
push himself along with his feet. At such times his
feathers are all ruffled, his combs swollen and erect, and,
while executing the most astonishing antics, such as toss-
ing himself in the air unsupported by his wings, and even
rolling over and over, as if quite crazy, he continues to
utter a peculiar, growling kurr-kiirr-like sound. The
males are very pugnacious and fight desperately, and
keep it up until one is completely exhausted, while the
feathers that cover the ground attest the fierceness of
the struggle. The hen seems quite indifferent as to the
result of these conflicts, and shows little of the affection
toward the male which he exhibits for her. The young
are very delicate when first hatched, and doubtless many

154

..•Xiv«^JV>SJ\^ji>^avi

35. Reinharclt's Ptarmigan.

REINHARDT'S PTARMIGAN. I55

perish in the sudden squalls of that changeable climate.
They utter a soft pe-pc-pe, and are at first indistin-
guishable from the young of the Willow Grouse.

The food of this bird is the usual variety of seeds,
insects, leaves, berries, and buds of different plants and
trees, and one individual had his crop filled with sphag-
num moss. They go in small coveys, and but one brood
is raised in a season; each covey being composed, proba-
bly, of members of the same brood. The eggs, deposited
in June in a nest similar to that of the Rock Ptarmigan,
are absolutely indistinguishable from those of that
species.

LAGOPUS RUPESTRIS REINHARDTI.

Geographical Distribution. — Northern Labrador, and islands
on the west shore of Cumberland Gulf, Greenland.

Adult Male in Summer. — Very similar in general pattern of
markings, and in coloration to L. rupestris, but not so regularly
barred above, and the bars much coarser.

Adult Female in Summer. — Nautilik, Cumberland Gulf. — In
general appearance this is a black and white bird, with the
black predominating; top of head, back, rump, and upper tail-
coverts, black, with from one to three buffy white spots on the
outer edge of the webs, and each feather more or less distinctly
tipped with white; a few feathers, mottled with pale buff and
white for about one-third their length from the tip, are scattered
over the back, these probably belonging to the plumage charac-
teristic of autumn, and which will next be assumed; the throat,
sides of head, and neck all around are buffy white, barred nar-
rowly with black; scapulars, most of the secondaries, and greater
wing-coverts are colored like the back, but all the feathers are
tipped with white, giving this part a black and white appear-
ance, with only occasionally pale buff spots showing; feathers of
under parts, flanks, and under tail-coverts, barred with black and
light buff, and tipped with white, but the black predominates;
the flank feathers have much broader bars of both black and pale
buff, and the latter is more conspicuous here than on any other
part of the bird; tail, seal brown, edged with white at the tips;

156 GAME BIRDS OF NORTH AMERICA.

legs, white; bill, dark horn color, lightest at tip; claws, horn
color. Total length, iiy'^ inches; wing, 7; tail, 4y*^; tarsus, ij%.
Exposed culmen, half inch.

A Greenland specimen from Sukkertoppen, also an adult female,
varies from the above described bird, in having more buff on the
under parts, and considerable white on the abdomen; the flank
feathers are also more buff, as the bars are decidedly buff.
The date of capture of this example is not given and it is impos-
sible to tell whether it has quite assumed the breeding plumage,
or is passing from it, but as there are no feathers of an autumn
dress visible it is probable that the breeding dress is not yet
completed; the autumn dress seems to be ochraceous, mottled
with black, and black blotches interspersed on the upper parts.

36. Welch's Ptarmigan.

WELCH'S PTARMIGAN.

'T^HIS may be called the Rock Ptarmigan of New-
foundland, and is a dark-grayish bird with a bluish
tinge to the plumage, which has been likened to the
color of the Sooty Grouse, and all the feathers are dotted
with blackish. It is very numerous in the rocky portions
of the island it inhabits, distributed among the moun-
tains in the interior, and is rather local, not going far
from the place in which it was reared. It may be con-
sidered the Alpine species of Newfoundland Ptarmigan,
not often met with below the line of spruce forest, except
when it descends in winter to feed on the buds of various
trees growing in the lowlands. It is sometimes called
the Mountain Partridge, and occasionally associates with
the Willow Grouse. Very little is known of its habits.

LA GO PUS RUPESTRIS WELCH I.

Geographical Distribution. — Mountains of Newfoundland.

Adult Male in Siunmer. — Entire upper parts, and upper
tail-coverts, brownish gray, vermiculated and spotted with
black, many feathers having white tips, and some with white
bars near the tips; front, chin, upper part of throat, cheeks,
and back of neck, barred with black and white; top of head,
rufous, blotched with black; lores, black; tail, blackish brown,
lighter toward the edges of the webs; a number of feathers barred
with black and white on upper part of breast; on lower breast,
belly, and under tail-coverts, white, interspersed on the first
with numerous feathers colored like the breast ; thighs and
feathers of tarsi, white; on toes, yellowish white; wing-coverts,
like the back; bill and claws, horn color. Total length, 14 inches;
wing, ']\\ tail, 4I; tarsus, \\\ exposed culmen, \ inch.

157

158 GAME BIRDS OF NORTH AMERICA.

Adult Female in Summer. — The female in her summer dress
is a very different bird, and has the top of the head broadly
barred with black and deep yellow or buff; back and sides of
neck and head, yellowish white, barred or spotted with black;
entire upper parts, including upper tail-coverts, vermiculated
with black and deep buff (some feathers almost black), edged
and tipped with buff or white, this being particularly the case
upon the upper part of back near the neck; wings, like the back,
but primaries and secondaries white, the shafts of former, brown;
tail, dark brown, the feathers with white bases and white edges
to the tips ; four median feathers, black, irregularly barred with
white, and tipped with white ; throat, yellowish white, becoming
pale buff on the breast, the latter broadly barred in waving lines,
with black ; flanks, also buff, with broad brownish black bars ;
lower breast, abdomen, and under tail-coverts, buffy white, with oc-
casional black bars visible; thighs, white; feathers of legs and feet,
yellowish white; bill and claws, pale horn color. Total length,
about 12:^ inches; wing, 6f ; tail, 4|; bill at gape, |; tarsus, if.

Adult Female in Autumn resembles the summer plumage of
the male, but has a generally more grayish appearance, and with
the back more conspicuously and profusely blotched with black;
no indication of black upon the lores, but upon flie flanks are oc-
casional feathers broadly barred with black and white, the latter
sometimes tinged with yellow, as is characteristic of the summer
dress of the adult female; the throat and neck are more conspicu-
ously barred with black and white than in the male, and have
more the appearance of a white ground barred with black; the
abdomen and under tail-coverts are pure white, and the tail
feathers are tipped with white.

Winter Plumage, pure white, with a black loral streak in the
male.

^c^liu oKe|j|,uva.x

37. Nelson's Ptarmigan.

NELSON'S PTARMIGAN.

'TpHIS is a little-known race of Ptarmigan, specimens
* of which were procured by Mr. Nelson on Unalaska,
one of the Aleutian Islands. It is said by Mr. Turner
to be very abundant there, and also in Uminak, Akutan,
and Akun, other islands of the same chain, and is a resi-
dent wherever found, seldom leaving the island in which
it was born. It prefers rocky ledges, but roosts and rears
its young in the valleys. The mating season Commences
in May and lasts about three weeks, and the nest is
usually placed in the tall grass. It is a very careless
afifair. composed of a little grass and some feathers from
the hen's breast, and before incubation is completed the
eggs are generally lying on the bare ground. The num-
ber of these varies from nine to seventeen, but eleven is
the usual number. The period of incubation was not
ascertained. The birds never go in large flocks, those
that were seen being apparently the parents and their
brood of a previous year.

LA GO PUS RUPESTRIS NELSON/.

Geographical Distrzbtition.— l^\sin&s of Unalaska, Unimak,
Akutan, and Akun. Aleutian Chain.

Adult Male in Summer. — General color of entire plumage,
dark russet, finely vermiculated with black, the center of the
feathers showing occasionally as blotches; feathers of head and
neck, tipped with ochraceous, giving this part a lighter hue than
the rest; lores and space beneath the eyes, black; comb over
eye, scarlet; throat, white, barred with black; jugulum, breast,
and flanks, much lighter than the back, vermiculated with black,

159

i6o GAME BIRDS, OF NORTH AMERICA.

and with occasionally apical black bars and white tips; inner
secondaries and tertials, like the back; wing-coverts generally,
and many of the secondaries and primaries, white, the latter
with brownish shafts; abdomen and rest of under parts, white,
the former mottled with black; under tail-coverts, white; thighs,
white; bill, black; claws, dark horn color. Total length, ^2)^^
inches; wing, 7|; tail, 4|; tarsus, i|; bill, i; exposed cul-
men, |.

Adult Female in Spring. — Head and upper parts, tawny och-
raceous, almost tawny, barred with black, and most of the
feathers tipped with white; tertials and innermost secondaries,
similarly marked and colored, but with not so bright a hue; sec-
ondaries, most of wing-coverts, and primaries, white, with pale
brown shafts; middle tail feathers, like the back, remainder,
clove brown, with white bases and tips; chin, white; throat,
breast, and flanks, bright ochraceous, barred with black, and
many feathers with white tips; center of breast and belly, white;
under tail-coverts, pale ochraceous, barred regularly with black;
thighs and tarsi, white; bill and claws, black. Total length,
13:^ inches; wing, 7|; tail, 4i; tarsus, i; bill, f; exposed cul-
men, \ inch.

The females of this subspecies vary in color, some being very
much lighter than the one just described, with correspondingly
broader black and white markings, and the white much clearer
and purer.

The Winter Plumage is pure white in both sexes, but the
male has a black loral streak.

..'rffni?!^frrrf!^^^

38. Turner's Ptarmigan.

TURNER'S PTARMIGAN.

AN inhabitant of the western part of the Aleutian
^^ chain, this bird is quite numerous on Atka, Am-
chitka, and Attn islands. It was discovered by Mr.
Turner, who has furnished all that is known about it.
He says that he was struck with its great size, shape of
the bill, and length of claws, and it frequents the low-
lands and hills of the western islands, and builds its nest
among the rank grasses near the beach. This is care-
lessly made of dried grass and similar materials, and the
eggs, varying in number from eleven to seventeen, are
darker in color than those of the Rock Ptarmigan, and
slightly smaller than those of the Willow Grouse. In
habits it resembles the first species. On account of
the number of foxes on Attn this bird frequents higher
elevations than it is accustomed to do on the other
islands. The natives assert that this Ptarmigan is also
found on Agattu and, on account of the absence of foxes,
is quite numerous on that island.

LAGOPUS RUPESTRIS ATKENSIS.

Geographical Distribution. — Islands of Atka, Amchitka, Attu
and possibly Agattu of the Aleutian Chain.

Adult Male in Summer. — Head and neck, tawny ochraceous,
barred with black, rest of upper parts, dark russet on basal two-
thirds of feathers, remainder gray, very finely vermiculated and
dotted with black; some small black spots upon the scapulars,
but there is a general absence of the black spots upon the back,
so conspicuous in L. r. townsendi; upper tail-coverts, like the
back; tail, clove brown, feathers tipped with white widest on the

i6i

i62 GAME BIRDS OF NORTH AMERICA.

central feathers; greater wing-coverts, scapulars, and innermost
secondaries like the back; rest of wing, pure white, with black
shafts to the primaries; the throat is white, sides of face and
breast, like the head and neck, but the breast and flanks are
more finely barred and vermiculated, while scattered about the
sides of head and along the flanks are many white feathers; rest
of under parts, thighs, and tarsi, pure white; loral space, black;
a crimson or scarlet comb over the eye; bill, black; claws,
horn color, with white tips. Total length, i3f inches; wnng, 7f ;
tail, 4f ; tarsus, ij\; exposed culmen, f.

It is possible that this specimen is not in what may be called
perfect summer plumage, as the throat is white. This part
would undoubtedly, for a few days at least, be colored like the
neck, but the plumage of these birds varies so from day to day
that it is only by accident that one is procured in what may be
termed the full and perfect summer dress,

Fejriale in Summer. — Head and entire upper parts, and most
of the wing, ochraceous, barred with black, the bars narrower
and more numerous on lower back and upper tail-coverts, with
most of the feathers tipped with white ; primaries and second-
aries, white, the former with blackish brown shafts; throat,
neck, breast, flanks, and under parts, generally including under
tail-coverts, ochraceous, barred irregularly and narrowly with
black ; tail, clove-brown, with outer web finely mottled with buff
for two-thirds the basal length of central feathers, and growing
gradually less on the lateral ones ; bill, black ; claws, black, with
white tips. Total length, 13^ inches; wing, yf; tail, 4|; tarsus, if.
Winter Plumage is pure white, with black loral streak in the
male.

39- Townsend's Ptarmigan.

TOWNSEND'S PTARMIGAN.

'T^HIS is another species of Ptarmigan that has been
seen by few naturahsts in its wild state, and was
brought from the Aleutian islands of Kyska and Adak
by Mr. Townsend, after whom it has been named. Only
about twenty specimens were procured, and the visitors'
sojourn at the islands was too brief for any particular
knowledge of the birds' habits to be gained.

Probably, like other of its relatives in the Aleutian
chain, it will never become an object for the sportsman's
pursuit, the island on which it lives being situated too
far away from all civilization to be easily accessible.

LA GO PUS RUPESTRIS TOIVNSENDI.

Geographical Distribution. — Kyska and Adak Islands, Aleu-
tian Chain.

Adult Male in Summer. — General color of entire upper parts,
including head and neck, together with the breast and flanks,
raw umber, with a tinge of russet, finely vermiculated with black
on lower back and rump, more coarsely marked on the other
parts with black blotches on the head, neck, upper part of back
and wings; feathers of back, rump, and wings tipped with white;
some of these white tips are finely spotted with black, giving to
them a gray appearance; the outer secondaries, tertials, and
most of the wing-coverts and primaries, pure white, the last hav-
ing black shafts; the long upper tail-coverts are marked and
colored like the back, with white tips; tail, clove-brown, nearly
black, the feathers tipped with white, broadest on the middle
pair, and decreasing on the outer ones, where it is either hardly
perceptible or absent altogether; throat, white, mixed with a few
colored feathers; breast, sides of neck, and flanks, ochraceous,

163

164 GAME BIRDS OF NORTH AMERICA.

barred with black, the bars broader and more conspicuous on
neck; abdomen and belly, white; under tail-coverts, mummy
brown, barred with black; loral space and ring around the eye,
black, and a scarlet comb above the eye; side of neck, of a
slightly paler hue than back or breast. Total length, 13^^
inches; wing, 7^; tail, 4; tarsus, i^; exposed culmen, \.

Adult Female in Summer. — Entire upper parts, including
scapulars, tertials, and upper tail-coverts, ochraceous, blotched
and barred with black, most of the feathers tipped with white,
except those on hind-neck, which are tipped with ochraceous;
tail, square, clove-brown, the four median feathers tipped with
white; secondaries, wing-coverts, and primaries, white, with
black shafts, except those of inner secondaries, which are white;
throat, w^hite; breast, sides of body, and under tail-coverts, och-
raceous buff, lighter than the back, and broadly barred with
black; center of breast, abdomen, and belly, pure white; thighs
and tarsus covered with white feathers; bill and claws, black.
Total length, \2\ inches; wing, 6|; tail, ^^-^\ tarsus, \^^\ ex-
posed culmen, \.

The winter dress of both sexes is white.

^„-t.f{V,

T..\ v/.- ,v,^»il>l>l.(>ti

40. Evermann's Ptarmigan,

EVERMANN'S PTARMIGAN.

'"PHIS peculiarly marked and very distinct species has
as yet only been obtained on x\ttu Island, one of the
Aleutian chain, situated near the western extremity, and
about 1400 miles from Unalaska. It may be restricted
entirely to this island. There is no other Ptarmigan
known to inhabit any portion of North America which
can be mistaken for this bird, and it presents in its colora-
tion but little resemblance to any of the other species.
It was first obtained by Professor Evermann, and only
nine specimens have as yet been procured. Little or
nothing is known of its habits, which, however, doubt-
less do not dififer from those of other Ptarmigan.

LA GOP US EVERMAXXI.

Geographical Distribution. — Attu Island, Aleutian Chain.

Adult Male in Siininier. — Forehead, white; top of head and
back of neck, black, finely barred with tawny; loral space,
breast, and entire upper parts, tertials, innermost secondaries,
and upper tail-coverts, black, with faint vermiculations of russet
on rump, upper tail-coverts, and edges of tertials; sides of face
black and white, mixed; comb over eye, scarlet; white feathers
of the winter dress are interspersed among those of the back and
upper part of the breast; most of wing-coverts, secondaries, and
entire primaries, pure white, with the shafts of the primaries
pale brown; tail, clove brown, almost black, with narrow white
tips to the feathers; entire under parts, including under tail-
coverts, pure white; bill and claws, black. Total length,
13I inches ; wing, 7^; tail, sf; tarsus, if; exposed culmen, \.

This specimen, as indeed was the case with all those obtained,
is not in complete summer dress, as is proved by the few white

165

1 66 GAME BIRDS OF NORTH AMERICA.

feathers scattered among the black ones, and also by the white
forehead. In the perfect breeding plumage these white feathers
would probably be absent.

Adult Female in Su??i7ner. — Entire plumage of body, ochrace-
ous, palest on the throat, blotched and barred on the back with
black, and the feathers having white tips; on the breast and
flanks the black blotches are much fewer, but the black bars are
broader, and there are no white tips on the breast feathers, but
those on the abdomen and some on the flanks are broadly tipped
with white; under tail-coverts, ochraceous, barred with black;
the tertials, inner secondaries, and some of the greater wing-
coverts, ochraceous, like the back, barred and tipped with white;
remainder of wing and primaries, pure white, with the shafts of
the latter, pale brown; bill and claws, black. Total length,
I2f inches; wing, 6j%; tail, 4|; tarsus, i|; exposed culmen, ^^.

In winter both sexes turn white.

^cAvviiL b^e|•)bLO■c\.

41. White-Tailed Ptarmigan.

WHITE-TAILED PTARMIGAN.

AN inhabitant of the high mountain ranges, both of
certain parts of the United States and the countries
lying to the north of our border, this beautiful bird is
not very often met with below the timber line. It is the
only species of Ptarmigan having a white tail. It ranges
from Alaska through British Columbia, and the
Western part of the United States to New Mexico,
where it has been obtained at Taos. In certain parts
of Idaho, Montana, Wyoming, and Colorado it is not
uncommon near the summits of the mountains. It
may be regarded as truly an Alpine species. It does
not migrate, and wherever found there it breeds, and
descends perhaps a few thousand feet when the
weather is very severe, but seldom below 6000 or 7000
feet. I have met with this species in the Cascade Range
in autumn, where it is usually found in small com-
panies of perhaps half a dozen, occasionally twice this
number. They were not what may be called tame, unlike
the Willow Grouse in this respect, but were always very
uneasy at my presence, and ran about with uplifted tail
as if uncertain which way to fly, but when they once got
started there seemed to be no farther difificulty in their
minds as to the proper direction, which I noticed never
led near where I stood. Sometimes I have seen them
light on the bare limbs of a stunted tree or large bush at
the edge of the timber line, w^here they stood perfectly
motionless for quite a length of time, observing every
movement I made, and then suddenly burst away with

167

1 68 GAME BIRDS OF NORTH AMERICA.

great speed, uttering a low cackle as they flew. They
are very skillful in concealing themselves, either squat-
ting in the snow with only the head exposed to view, or
else crouching behind some stone or large bowlder. In
summer their peculiar gray plumage assimilates so well
to the hue of the ground and the moss-covered stones
lying about in all directions that it is next to impossible
to perceive them, and at this period, especially during the
breeding season, they rarely move when approached, per-
haps only going a few feet on one side to avoid being
stepped upon.

In winter their white dress makes them so absolutely
indistinguishable from the snow that, unless they move,
a person could pass close to them and never notice them
at all. The nesting season commences in June, and the
eggs are deposited in a slight depression in the ground,
lined with grass and a few feathers from the bird's breast,
or in a patch of short grass pressed down by the hen
into a circular shape. These so-called nests are always
at a very high elevation, in some localities rarely below
12,000 feet, and eight to ten is the usual number of the
eggs. They have a ground color varying from a creamy
to a salmon bufif, with spots and blotches of reddish and
chocolate brown, but not nearly so completely covered
with markings as is the case with the eggs of the other
species of Ptarmigan. When incubating, the hen leaves
the nest with great reluctance, 'and will often remain
when the danger of being trodden upon by both man
and beast is imminent, and, when she does move, will
go but a little way before she stops and watches the
intruder, expressing her disapprobation at having her
eggs handled by uttering a low, rolling note. It has been
said that instances have occurred when a hen has per-
mitted herself to be lifted from the nest and, when re-

/

WHITE-TAILED PTARMIGAN. 169

leased, made no effort to fly away, but waited until she
was permitted to return to her charge. But one brood
is raised in a year, and the chicks, when first hatched,
are curiously striped with bands of white and blackish
brown. The hen defends them with great courage, not
hesitating to fly directly into the face of anybody who
may attempt to catch one of her brood, and strikes as vio-
lently as she is able with her wings. At other times
she uses all the artifices common to game birds to draw
one away from the vicinity of her young.

By the latter part of August the brood is pretty fully
grown, unless from some cause the birds have been
hatched later than usual. They are delicate at first, and
doubtless many perish from severe weather, or by getting
their downy plumage wet, which generally has a fatal
effect. This Ptarmigan, also called the White, Snow, or
Mountain Quail, by the miners and others who penetrate
its retreats, feeds upon leaves and tender stalks of vari-
ous plants growing in the Alpine regions amid which
it dwells, also on insects of different kinds, and in
winter on the buds and leaves of firs and pines. Its
flesh is much lighter than that of other Ptarmigan, and is
about as palatable as is theirs, which sometimes is pretty
tasteless. When much hunted the \\ hite-tailed Ptar-
migan becomes very wild, and it is difficult to approach
it within shot. It makes no extended flights, but
runs on ahead, dodging behind rocks and bushes, stop-
ping at times to watch its pursuer, and occasionally fly-
ing a short distance so as just to keep beyond the range
of the gun. If persistently followed for a considerable
period, it is then very apt to remove itself from the local-
ity, at least for a brief period. A solitary bird is not apt
to try and make its escape by flight, and can be flushed
with difficulty, generally trying to steal away quietly,

I70 GAME BIRDS OF NORTH AMERICA.

or else remaining motionless, evidently hoping to escape
in that way from being seen. But if several are together
they will usually take wing, making a great cackling
as they rise and fly off.

The flight of this species is firm and well sustained,
consisting of a rapid beating of the wings, succeeded by
a sailing movement, and can be continued for a long dis-
tance; but, as a rule, the birds alight after proceeding
for a few hundred yards. The White-tailed Ptarmigan,
like its relatives, appears to be continually in moult. It
begins to show a few of the blackish brown vermiculated
feathers in March, which appear very conspicuously amid
the white plumage. The change from out the winter dress
is effected very slowly, and the perfect summer plumage
is not assumed until about June. In September it begins
to change again, the feathers on the under parts being
the first that are replaced with white ones. There is no
regularity in this moult, as white feathers appear in
different parts of the body after the process has once
commenced; but it goes on so deliberately that little
difference in the bird's appearance is noticeable for some
weeks, save perhaps the general hue is somewhat lighter,
and it is quite late in the autumn — perhaps, at times, even
the middle of winter — before the pure white dress is com-
pleted. During all this period of changing plumage no
two individuals are alike. The tail remains white all the
year round, and renders the bird very conspicuous dur-
ing the summer months.

Although, as I have stated, it is rarely seen in the Cas-
cade Mountains in flocks of any size, yet farther south,
as in the mountains of Colorado, it associates in com-
panies composed sometimes of a hundred individuals or
more. This, however, seems to be an aggregation of
birds mostly not fully grown, a number of broods con-

(. Xh \

h ^^, ' 'Wf;ih i

42. White-Tailed Ptarmigan in Winter.

WHITE-TAILED PTARMIGAN. 1 71

gregated together, but even in these localities I am not
aware that these flocks keep unbroken during the winter.
It would appear to be more an incident of the breeding
season. The males are very pugnacious, and during the
period of courtship desperate battles frecjuently occur
when two cocks happen to meet. In winter, when pur-
sued, this Ptarmigan will dive into the snow, and doubt-
less, like the Rufifed Grouse and other gallinaceous
birds, it may be accustomed to enter a snow bank to
sleep and obtain protection in that way both from the
severity of the weather and from whatever enemies may
be prowling amid the lofty heights among which it
dwells.

LA GOP US LEUCURUS.

Geographical D/stribufwft. — High range of mountains from
Liard River, British America, and Western United States to
New Mexico.

Adult Male. — Upper parts, golden gray or grayish buff, irreg-
ularly barred and vermiculated with black; top of head, black,
with tips of feathers light brown; lores, black; rest of head and
neck, finely barred with black and buff, and feathers tipped with
white; cheeks, chin, and throat, white, spotted with black, only
sparsely on the throat; breast, barred with black and umber-
brown; flanks, similar, but black bars finer and very irregular,
and black vermiculations; rest of lower parts, white; legs and
toes covered with white feathers; tail, white; bill, black. Total
length, about 12^ inches; wing, 6^.

Adult Female. — Resembles the male, but with perhaps more
buff. There seems to be. however, very little difference in the
coloring of the sexes. Dimensions, about the same as those of
the male.

WILD TURKEY.

I N the United States there are at present recognized
four different kinds of Wild Turkeys, resembUng each
other, as would naturally be supposed, in many par-
ticulars, but each having its own peculiarities and well-
defined limits of dispersion. The present species is the
well-known bird of the Eastern portion of the Union,
north of Florida, and formerly was much more exten-
sively distributed than it is at the present day. From
various causes, but chiefly too much killing, it has entirely
disappeared from many localities in which it w^as formerly
abundant, and become greatly lessened in others, and its
range is yearly being gradually more restricted, as
though the fate that has befallen so many wild creatures
would also, in an altogether too brief period, overtake
this noble bird, and another name be added to the list of
the members of our Fauna that have become extinct.
In the Atlantic States, where it formerly was found from
southern Maine to Florida, a few are now left in certain
parts of Pennsylvania, which is its northern limit, becom-
ing more abundant to the southward. Some are still
met with in wooded districts of Ohio, in the southern
parts of Michigan and Wisconsin, and the States lying
on the west side of the Mississippi to Texas. It is com-
mon in the Indian Territory, and not scarce in the Gulf
States and parts of Texas. It used to be frequently met
with in certain portions of Canada, but if any remain to-
day they would probably be found in southwestern
Ontario.

172

o

WILD TURKEY. 173

The Wild Turkey is a bird of the forest, and loves to
dwell in the thick portions of the woods, or in the depths
of the swamps and similar retreats, where it is far re-
moved from man, and little liable to be disturbed by his
attentions. In places where it has not been persecuted
by hunters, or frequently shot at, if there are any such
remaining at the present day, the Turkey is not apt to be
any wilder or more wary than other forest creatures, and
it has been known to approach the dwellings and feed
among the tame turkeys and other domestic fowl. But
when it has learned man's ways, and that his presence
means death to any animal within the range of his gun,
no more cunning, suspicious, wary animal lives than the
Wild Turkey, nor one better able to take care of it-
self, though too often all its efforts to preserve its life
avail nothing against the ingenuity and persistency of its
human foe. The nesting season of this splendid bird
commences according to the latitude of its habitat, from
February, in the southern portion of its range, until June
in the northern. The males are polygamous, and every-
one is familiar with their pompous strut and attitude
during the courting season. The hen hides her nest
very carefully as well from the gobbler as from other
depredators, for he would not hesitate to make way with
both eggs and chicks if he had the chance, and she em-
ploys the same route both when approaching and leav-
ing her eggs. The nest is a simple affair situated near
some stump or fallen log, in the midst of a clump of
bushes or in high grass, in fact in any place where the
required concealment can be obtained. The comple-
ment of eggs is from seven to twelve; but occasionally
two hens will lay in the same nest, and then as many as
two dozen have been found. In such a case it would
naturally be supposed that both birds would sit together.

174 GAME BIRDS OF NORTH AMERICA.

The young are very delicate little things and a wetting
is almost certainly fatal, and it is a wonder how the
mother is able to raise as many as she does. Certainly
the task before her is no light one, to guard and protect
her brood against the elements as well as all her furred,
feathered, and scaly enemies, always on the alert for such
a desirable morsel as a chicken turkey. In the early
spring at break of day the gobblers are heard calling
from some favored roost in the forest. At such times
they are exceedingly watchful and suspicious, and the
least glimpse of a hunter, or frequently the breaking of
a stick under foot, will cause them to fly at once, and
it is rare for them to return to the vicinity of that place
again during the day. The hens attend these trysting
places, and should two gobblers meet they fight desper-
ately, as they are very jealous and ready at all times to
defend their fancied prerogatives. Many are shot at this
season, as the birds are accustomed to resort to the same
roost at night, and when this has been discovered, the
hunter either goes near to it during the night and waits
for the dawn and light enough to see the sights of his
gun, or makes a stealthy stalk until within shot, after
the break of day. One brood is raised in a season, but
a hen may lay a second complement of eggs, if from any
mishap the first clutch has been lost. The eggs are
creamy white, finely spotted with reddish brown. At
the end of the nesting season the males separate from the
females and keep by themselves, reuniting again when
they have recovered their pristine vigor. The females
lead their young where they can catch insects and such
other food as is suitable for them, and each family keeps
apart until the young are fairly well-grown, and then
several may join together, their number at length being
augmented by the returning males.

WILD TURKEY. 175

Although they seem to become attached to a par-
ticular locality and rarely stray far from it, yet the birds
wander a good deal, especially when gathered together
in flocks of any size. A stream of considerable width,
lying in their course, proves an obstacle to their farther
progress perhaps for several days, during which time the
males strut and gobble as if encouraging the young and
themselves to undertake the passage. At length they
mount to the highest branches overhanging the banks,
and launch themselves out over the water, and fly for the
opposite shore. Should any fail to make the bank and
fall into the water, they spread their tails and swim to
land if the distance be not too great. The call note of
the Wild Turkey, both the gobble of the male, and the
low, soft call of the female, is very like that of the domes-
tic bird, and although there are slight differences, it
would take a Turkey itself, or the well-trained ear of an
expert, to distinguish them. The food of this bird con-
sists of nuts of various kinds, acorns, such as grow on
the different species of oaks; chestnuts, pecan nuts, seeds
of many sorts, berries, grapes, insects, and grain. They
are very fond of grasshoppers, and it is said that a flock
of Turkeys will so systematically traverse and explore a
field, that it will be entirely cleared of these insects in a
brief period. Turkeys do not migrate in the strict sense
of the term, but when food grows scarce from any cause
in one section of the country, they naturally will move on,
seeking a better land. For this reason Turkeys may at
times be scarce in localities usually favorable for them,
and to which they have been accustomed to resort in
numbers, and again other districts, where they have not
been especially abundant, will, from an excess of food
supply, suddenly contain large flocks of these birds.
They will return, however, to their usual haunts as soon

176 GAME BIRDS OF NORTH AMERICA.

as the conditions become again favorable. The appear-
ance of the Wild Turkey is magnificent as he walks in
stately dignity in his native wilds, the sun glancing from
his burnished plumage in flashes of emerald and gold,
and his erect, graceful, and easy carriage, with head well
up, alert to every sound or movement, exhibits him, as
he really is, the finest and noblest game bird in the world.

MELEAGRIS SYLVESTRIS.

Geographical Distribntw7i. — From Pennsylvania, where a few
possibly survive, to the Gulf States, except Florida, and west-
ward to Wisconsin in the north, and to Texas in the south, in
wooded districts.

Adult Male. — General plumage, brilliant metallic, gold, green,
bronze, and red reflections, each feather tipped with a band of
velvety black; secondaries, bronzy green, barred with whitish;
primaries, black, barred with white, the bars reaching the shafts;
rump, black, feathers glossed with dark metallic purple; upper
tail-coverts, dark chestput, with metallic red reflections, and
barred with black; tail feathers, chestnut barred and vermicu-
lated with black, a subapical broad black band and deep buff
tips; head and neck, naked, red; a long bunch of coarse, stiff
black bristles is suspended from center of breast; legs, red,
spurred; bill, red. Total length, about four feet; wing, 21
inches; tail, 19; weight, from twelve to nearly forty pounds.

Adult Female. — Smaller and with much duller colors, very
little of the brilliant metallic hues seen in the male, and without
the pendent bunch of bristles.

'^

44. Florida Wild Turkey.

V -!.>■'*-

FLORIDA WILD TURKEY.

AA/HEN I first visited Florida, Wild Turkeys were
quite abundant even in the near vicinity of St.
Augustine, and ascending the St. John's it was not an
unusual thing to see a flock walking sedately along the
bank of the river, or on the edge of the woods when
these did not come to the water; and not infrequently
one would be killed by a bullet from some passenger's
rifle, and the boat's nose run against the bank to allow
one of the crew to jump ashore and retrieve the game.
But in these days, except in the wilder portions of the
State, where they are still abundant, they have greatly
decreased in numbers, and like their Northern relative,
are rapidly disappearing. They were not so excessively
shy and wary before they were so persecuted and per-
sistently hunted, and I remember well the first time I
ever saw a Florida Turkey. I had been hunting deer
on horseback south of St. Augustine, and night com-
ing on we decided to camp for the night, and rode
into a clump of trees and palmettoes near which, on the
other side, stretched a swamp of considerable extent. As
I dismounted from my horse there was a sudden rush
and commotion in front, and a flock of Turkeys started
away, some to run and a few to take wing. The run-
ners soon disappeared, but the flying birds took refuge
in the trees near at hand, and standing motionless, or
else slowly walking on the large limbs, looked down
upon us as if wondering what kind of intruders we were.
They evinced no particular alarm, certainly nothing like

177

178 GAME BIRDS OF NORTH AMERICA.

that which one of these birds would be apt to show at
the present time under similar circumstances.

Rifles and shotguns were quickly made ready, and
several of the birds remained with us; the rest of the
flock seeking a more secure retreat, where they could
indulge their curiosity with less risk to themselves. The
appearance of the Florida Turkey is very like the North-
ern bird, and only an expert would be apt to notice the
difiference. This chiefly consists in the darker colors
generally of the present race, and in having the pri-
maries black with w^hite bars, these last not reaching the
shaft, while in those of the Northern bird they go to the
shaft of the feather. It is a slight variation, but sufficient
to constitute what is considered a geographical race.
Turkeys in Florida seem to wander a good deal, per-
haps really not more than do those inhabiting other
States, but they are abundant at times in one locality, and
then will be quite scarce again in the same place. Prob-
ably the quantity or absence of food is the main cause
of this unsettled phase of their existence, for it is well
known that all Turkeys wall travel many miles to pro-
cure any food they particularly fancy when they know
where it is to be obtained. The Florida Turkey goes in
small flocks, and keeps to the thick woods and dense
swamps. The males can be called like those of the
Northern bird, by the imitation of the hen's note in the
spring, and they approach the hunters ambush with all
the suspicion and cunning of an old campaigner, urged
on by the desire burning in his breast. But with all his
eagerness to meet his supposed lady-love, he is watchful
of every sight or sound that comes to eye or ear, and is
ofif in a moment if his fears are aroused, disappearing
quietly and swiftly as if he had vanished into air.
Should two males encounter each other at this season,

FLORIDA WILD TURKEY. 179

desperate are the battles that ensue, and should one get
a firm hold of the other by the head, he will hang on
until his adversary is exhausted, perhaps dead. It is
said that a gobbler will caress the dead body of his
fallen foe, but I have never witnessed this. The
males begin to gobble in February and nesting com-
mences in March. The usual depression is made be-
neath a palmetto and lined with grass, leaves, and similar
rubbish, and usually about ten eggs are laid, exactly
similar in appearance to those of the Northern Wild
Turkey. The chicks remain with the mother until full
grown, when they may unite with other families if they
happen to meet, and in the autumn the males join them.
Their habits do not differ from those of the other races,
and the Florida bird, though not so brilliant perhaps, is
also a magnificent creature.

MELEAGRIS SVLVESTRIS OSCEOLA.

Geographical Distribution. — Florida.

Adult Male. — Resembles M. sylvesfris, but much darker in
the general hue of the plumage; there is a great deal of brilliant
metallic coloring observable in different shades of bronze,
greens, and fiery reds, but the chief difference between this race
and other Wild Turkeys consists in the markings of the primaries
and secondaries, though to a less extent in the latter. The pri-
maries and outer secondaries are brownish black, with narrow
broken bars of white that do not reach the shaft of the feather,
while the inner secondaries are grayish brown, apparently with-
out bars, but vermiculated with dark brown on the inner web.
The dimensions are about the same as the Northern Wild
Turkey.

Adult Female. — Like the male, but smaller and less brilliant
in coloration.

k

ELLIOT'S RIO GRANDE TURKEY.

'T'HIS handsome race of the Wild Turkey is restricted,
so far as is known at present, to the lowlands of
eastern Mexico and southern Texas, ranging not far-
ther south than Vera Cruz nor north of the Brazos
River, or about ten degrees of latitude. This is the dis-
persion given to the bird by its describer, my friend Mr.
George B. Sennett. It is a dweller of the woodlands
and is not met with much, if any, above an altitude of
2000 feet. While having the general appearance of the
eastern Wild Turkey it differs from that and all the other
races in many particulars; and the hen is unlike that of
any other species or race of Turkeys known at the
present day. No evidence of its intergrading w^ith the
common species has yet been obtained, but it is expected
that it would interbreed with that bird wherever the
limits of their dispersion came in contact. It has always
been confounded with the Common Wild Turkey, and
although its peculiar coloring and marking had been
observed and commented on by many ornithologists it
was not until lately that sufficient specimens were
•obtained, and its restricted habitat known, to prove its
claim to be considered as a distinct race. Its habits
are the same as those already described in the articles on
the other races, and in beauty and brilliancy of its
metallic coloring, as well as in size, it is not inferior to
any of the Wild Turkeys inhabiting Mexico and the rest
of the continent lying to the northward. The female
varies greatly from the male, and in fact she is difTer-

i8o

45- Elliot's Rio Grande Turkey.

ELLIOT'S RIO GRANDE TURKEY. i8i

ently marked from the hens of all other species of
Turkeys; sufficiently characteristic in my opinion to give
the bird specific rank, although I retain its subspecific
nomenclature.

MELEAGRIS SYLVESTRIS ELLIOTT.

Habitat. — Lowlands of southern Texas and eastern Mexico,
from the Brazos River to Vera Cruz not above 2000 feet of eleva-
tion. Northeastern Mexico.

Adult Male. — Head, neck, mantle, upper wing-coverts, and
breast resemble those of the eastern Wild Turkey, AT. sylvestris;
back and rump, jet black, with, in certain lights, a silvery'^ gray
bar near the ends of all the feathers, and a narrower one on the
tip, both with roseate reflections; upper tail-coverts, broadly
tipped with ochraceous buff (and this is the general color of the
lower rump and upper tail-coverts), remaining parts, chestnut,
irregularly crossed with black lines, succeeded by a black bar
with metallic copper bronze reflections; back and rump, jet
black; lower back, with a coppery metallic bar near the tip of the
feathers; tail, mottled with pale chestnut and black, a black
band near the end and the tip ochraceous buff; under tail-
coverts, black, with metallic green, bronze, and red reflections,
and broadly tipped with ochraceous buff . Wing, 21 inches; tail,
19; tarsus, 6^.

Young Male\i2iS, the feathers of the breast, under parts, flanks,
back, and rump conspicuously tipped with ochraceous buff.

Adult Female. — Smaller than male, general hue, black, with
the metallic iridescent hues of the male present on the back, wings,
and under surface; feathers of the entire upper parts have black
bars near the ends and grayish tips, becoming broader on the
lower back and rump; feathers of under surface tipped with pale
buff; upper and under tail-coverts and tail resemble those of the
male, and all except the under coverts have very pale ochraceous
buff tips.

MEXICAN TURKEY.

pROM this bird came the domesticated race of Tur-
keys. It is a common species on the table-lands of
Mexico, and within our borders is found in southern and
western Texas, New Mexico, and Arizona at an altitude
of from 3000 to 10,000 feet above the sea. It is a bird of
the highlands and mountainous regions, and is rather
larger and heavier than the Wild Turkey of the Atlantic
States. The light rump with the broad white borders
to the feathers, makes it conspicuously different from all
its allies, and is one of the characteristic marks of the
domestic bird. I found this species very abundant upon
the highlands in southern New Mexico near the borders
of Arizona, and met with them in flocks of considerable
size. They had all the habits of the Eastern bird, and
w'ere wary and difficult to approach. It was late in the
autumn and the pinon nuts were abundant, and the birds
kept closely to the groves of the trees which were
covered with these nuts, and apparently fed exclusively
upon them. Their flesh was so highly scented by this
food that, when the Turkeys were over the fire, they per-
fumed the camp with a most appetizing odor, and I
know no better dish than a roasted Mexican Turkey
that has been fed on piiion nuts. About three miles
from one of our camps was a place where the Turkeys
were in the habit of roosting, and wt visited the spot
several times. On the first occasion I left camp about
half an hour before sundown, and came near the roost-
ing place just at dark. The Turkeys had selected a

.h^^-

46. Mexican Turkey.

MEXICAN TURKEY. 1S3

grove of lofty pines, the first branches of which were too
high for any missile to reach and do execution upon so
large a bird, save a bullet from a rifle. As my com-
panion and myself quietly sat upon the ground a quarter
of a mile away, waiting for the daylight to leave the sky,
we heard the Turkeys flying into the trees, and gobbling
at intervals as they settled themselves for the night.
Soon darkness spread her veil around us, and all sounds
from the roost ceased, and we commenced cautiously to
draw near our objective point.

Soon we could distinguish the trees in which we knew
the birds were, but the branches were so far from the
ground that at first nothing could be seen that re-
sembled a Turkey. Gradually we drew near until we
stood beneath the overspreading limbs and close to the
trunk of the tree each had selected. No movement or
sound from above indicated that we had been observed
by the watchful birds, and now to our eyes, grown more
accustomed to the obscurity, some clumps and bunches
appeared upon the branches toward the sky. It was
almost impossible to tell what these were, whether
Turkeys squatting on the limbs, or masses of moss or
foliage. But the only way to find out was to shoot at
them, which we did. At the crack of the rifles came
numerous pit-pits and a stray gobble as the aroused
birds moved upon their perches and questioned this
unusual uproar. Their movements disclosed their forms
without mistake, and soon there was added to the noise
of the firearms, and the calls of the now thoroughly
startled birds, the crash of the falling Turkeys striking
the* limbs as they descended, and then the heavy
*' thump " as the body reached the ground. For a short
time confusion reigned. Unharmed birds began to
leave the trees, and the whir and beat of their wings

1 84 GAME BIRDS OF NORTH AMERICA.

sounded above the various cries they uttered, and occa-
sionally one wounded, but not entirely incapacitated
from escaping, would drop to the ground and the
rapid " pats " of its swiftly moving feet could be heard
upon the dead leaves as it ran quickly from the scene.
The roost, however, was very extensive and continued a
long way up the canon, and the birds not in the imme-
diate vicinity did not desert their posts. Picking up the
dead birds, a few of which were quite a heavy enough
load for two men, we were glad when we could transfer
them from our own backs to those of our horses, which
were waiting for us about half a mile away. This Tur-
key is very strong upon the wing, rises without difficulty,
awd continues its flight frequently for long distances.
It alights either upon the ground or in the trees, but if
the former, runs with great speed until a place of con-
cealment is gained. While not uncommon in the dis-
tricts named within our limits, this species is much more
numerous in Mexico, where it goes as far south as Vera
Cruz. The hen attends solely to the hatching of the
eggs and rearing of the young, hiding them away from
the male, who cannot be trusted either wdth them or a
knowledge of their location. The nest is a depression in
the ground, lined with grass, weeds, and leaves, and care-
fully concealed amid bushes or grass. The eggs are
creamy white, finely and thickly dotted with reddish
brown. The food of this bird consists of acorns and
various nuts that are found in those southern latitudes,
especially those of the piiion tree, also insects of all kinds,
and grain when it happens to be grown in the vicinity
of their habitats.

This Turkey was carried to some of the West Indies
Islands early in the sixteenth century, and then to
Europe, especially England and France, and in 1573 had

MEXICAN TURKEY. 185

become quite numerous and was freely used as an article
of food. In the days of the Emperors of Mexico
Montezuma possessed extensive Zoological Gardens,
and many of these birds were given to the wild beasts for
food. Certainly they had no fault to find with the fare
served to them. The Mexican Turkey, as I have said, is
possibly a somewhat larger bird, and exhibits a good
many of the metallic tints of its Eastern relative, yet it
can hardly be regarded as equally beautiful, as the white
on the rump detracts greatly from the general brilliancy
of its appearance. Still it is a magnificent game bird,
and is worthy to be compared with its rivals of the
Eastern and Northern portions of the United States.

MELA CRTS GALLOP A VO.

Geographical Disiribiitio7i. — Western Texas to Arizona.
Table-lands of Mexico.

Adult Male. — Rather larger than the average common Wild
Turkey, and with fully as much of the brilliant metallic coloring
so conspicuous in its better known relative. The principal dif-
ferences exhibited by the present bird are the upper tail-coverts,
which are broadly tipped with white, barred posteriorly by a
band of black, the rest of the feathers being metallic bronze ;
tail, very dark brown, especially toward the tip, spotted and
vermiculated with black and tipped with white ; feathers on
lower part of flanks and under tail-coverts are also tipped
with white; the primaries are white, barred with blackish brown,
apparently more white visible on the webs than of the other
color; head and neck, bare, red. Measurements and weights
vary considerably among individuals, and those given for the
common Wild Turkey will answer for this one also. There is
a long bunch of stiff black bristles pendent from the chest.

Adult Female. — Smaller and with much less of the metallic
coloring, and without the pendent bristles or " beard."

APPENDIX.

KEYS TO THE FAMILIES, SUBFAMILIES, GENERA,

AND SPECIES.

KEY TO THE FAMILIES.

{^Referring only to North American Species^

A. Head feathered, tarsi bare, or partly or
completely feathered. No spurs on tarsi.
Plumage not iridescent.

B. Head and upper part of neck, bare. Tarsi
always bare. Spurs on tarsi of male.
Plumage iridescent.

KEY TO SUBFAMILIES.

A. No spurs on legs.

a. Nasal fossae and tarsi bare. Sides of toes
not pectinated. Cutting edge of mandible
more or less distinctly" serrated near the
tip.

b. Nasal fossae densely feathered, Tarsi
and toes partly, or completely covered
with feathers. Sides of toes pectinated.
Cutting edge of mandible not serrated.

B. With spurs on tarsi of male.

PARTRIDGES AND
GROUSE.

TetraotiidcE.

WILD TURKEYS.

PhasianidcB.

AMERICAN PAR-
TRIDGES.

Odontophorince
Page 19.

GROUSE AND
PTARMIGAN.

Tetrao7iincE.
Page 74.

WILD TURKEYS.

MeleagrincE.
Page 172.

189

FAMILY TETRAONID^.

This family contains the Quails, Partridges, and
Grouse, and has its representatives in nearly every por-
tion of the world. It has been subjected by different
ornithologists to varying treatment and has at times been
divided into many subfamilies, but three have always
seemed to me quite sufficient, two of which are repre-
sented in North America. The three are: Perdicince,
containing the Quails and Partridges of the Old World,
having no representative in the Western Hemisphere;
Odotitophorincc, the American Partridges, natives of the
New World unrepresented in the Old World; and Tetra-
onincCy the Grouse and Ptarmigan found in both Hemi-
spheres.

They are all game birds, in the sense the sports-
man understands the term, and wherever their habitat
may be, whether the elevated plateaus or gloomy defiles
of high mountain ranges, or the plains and prairies of
level lands, or the forests and thickets of the more
attractive portions of the earth, the members of this
family always exhibit the peculiar qualities found so emi-
nently among gallinaceous birds, and afford the sport
that so endears them to the hunter's heart.

The New World possesses some of the largest and
finest species of the family, many of which at one time
were found within its limits in extraordinary abundance,
and although they now exist in lessened numbers, and
many districts in which they formerly abounded will
know them no more forever, yet with proper laws,
rightly enforced, a remnant may be saved for succeeding
generations.

SUBFAMILY ODONTOPHORIN^.

This division of the family Tetraonid^ comprises
the American Partridges, which differ from those of the
Eastern Hemisphere in having the mandible notched on
either side, although in some species this is hardly appar-
ent. The group throughout the Western Hemisphere
consists of about nine genera and between forty and fifty
species, of which in North America, according to my
views, five genera and thirteen species and subspecies
are found. They are birds of shapely, sometimes grace-
fully formed bodies, and with an attractive plumage,
which indeed, in some species, may be called beautiful.
The American Partridges go in coveys generally con-
sisting of one family, but some species, notably of the
genus LoPHORTYX, gather at certain seasons in packs,
often of five or six hundred individuals, resembling in
this respect the Prairie Grouse of different species. The
North American Partridges, excepting perhaps those
that " pack," are game in the highest sense of the term,
lie well to the dog, and afford the greatest sport in the
field. Brave little birds, with well-sharpened wits, fertile
in resources that promise to insure their own safety,
and wide-awake to seize every advantage that offers for
their own benefit. Gallant " Bob White " and his near
relatives certainly have a warm place in the heart of every
true sportsman in the land.

192

S UBFA MIL V ODON 7 OPHORIN^.

193

KEY TO THE GENERA.

A. Claws moderate, normal.

a. Crest, moderate, inconspicuous.

b. Crest very long, slender, of two feathers.

c. Crest full, conspicuous.

d. Crest recurved, of several feathers, en-
larged at extremity.

B. Claws very long.

BOB WHITES.

Co linns.
Page 19.

PLUMED PAR-
TRIDGES.

Oreortyx.
Page 41.

SCALED PAR-
TRIDGES.

CalUpepla.
Page 49.

HELMETED PAR-
TRIDGES.

Lophor'tyx.
Page 55.

MASSENA PAR-
TRIDGES.

Cyrtonyx.
Page 69.

GENUS COLINUS

(Latin Colinus, synonymous with the Greek t>prv^, ortyx, a quail).

Colinus Less. Man. d'Ornith., vol. ii., 1828, p. 190. Type
Tetrao virginianus, Linn.

Body short, rounded ; feathers of crown slightly rounded and
erectile, but not forming a true crest. Tail about three-fifths
length of wing. Sexes alike, save in the color of throats and
superciliary stripes.

Two species and two subspecies of this genus inhabit North
America north of Mexico. Closely allied in habits and appear-
ance three of them might easily be confounded by one not an
expert, but the fourth, C. ridgwayi, hardly called with propriety
a North American species, differs completely in the color of its
plumage from the others.

194 GAME BIRDS OF NORTH AMERICA.

KEY TO THE SPECIES.

A. Adult Males. — Lower parts, white, irreg-
ularl}' barred with black.
a. Throat, white.
a . Band on breast.
a!' . Breast band, light chestnut, inner \ bob white,
edges of tertials, deep buff. f C. virgmmnus.

TEXAN BOB
WHITE.

C. V. texanus.

b" . Breast band, pale cinnamon ; inner
edges of tertials, biiffy white.

b' . No band on breast.

B. Adult Male. — Lower parts, cinnamon- |
rufous. Throat, black.

FLORIDA BOB
WHITE.

C. V. florid anus.

MASKED BOB
WHITE.

C. ridgwayi.

GENUS OREORTYX
(Greek, 3pos, 07-os, a mountain; 4- 6pTi;|, urtyx, a quail).

Oreortyx, Baird. B. North Am., 1858, p. 642. TygQ Ortyx
picta.y Dougl.

Head with a long, slender crest, consisting of two feathers, either
standing upright or inclining slightly backward. Tail broad,
rounded, almost hidden by upper coverts. Tarsus equal to
middle toe and claw.

One species and two subspecies of this genus are recognized,
but there is so very slight a difference between the subspecies
that a close examination is required to separate them, especially
if the locality of the specimens is unknown. They are among
the most brilliantly plumaged members of the family and of a
larger size and greater weight than the other North American
Partridges. Strictly mountain dwellers, they are found in the
summer at very high elevations. Their coloring is peculiar, be-
ing massed in large areas and of strongly contrasting hues.
There is considerable difference in the appearance of the sexes,
the female being less gaudily attired and with a much shorter
crest.

SUBFAMILY ODONTOFHORIN^. 195

KEY TO THE SPECIES.
A. Crest very long and mostly straight.

a. Above: deep olive-brown from crest to ] ^^ountain par-
end of tail-coverts. f tridge.

^ O. pictiis.

-\ PLUMED PAR-

b. Above: hind-neck and upper back gray- | tridge.
ish blue. f O. p. plumi-

^ ferus.

c. Above: ashy brown with slight olive- ) ^'"^-"^ ^^^^°
wash. - partridge.

) O. p. confinis.

The differences between the last bird and the O. p. pliiiniferiis,
as given by its describer, are so very slight, viz. : " grayer upper
parts and thicker bill," that an ornithologist would naturally
hesitate before giving it any separate rank, even a subspecific
one, until he found characters more decisive and important, that
would enable the bird to be recognized from its fellows. Relative
proportions of bills, unless very unusual, are notoriously unreli-
able, and prove generally to be a most unsatisfactory foundation
on which to base specific or subspecific forms, and slight shades of
color are not much more to be depended on,

GENUS CALLIPEPLA

(Greek, icaXXiTrcTrXos, Kallipeplos, beautifully arrayed).

Callipepla, Wagler. Isis., 1832, p. 277. Type, C. strenua,
Wagl. — Ortyx squamatiis, Vig.

Crest full, and short, of two colors blending with feathers of
the crown. No distinction in plumage of sexes.

I have included but one species and one subspecies in this
genus, contrary to the arrangement of the A. O. U. check list, for
I cannot satisfy myself that birds so essentially different as the
Scaled Partridges, and those represented by Gambel's, the Cali-
fornia Partridge, etc., can properly be placed in the same genus.
The crests are entirely different in structure, that of the Scaled
Partridge being more like that of Bob White and its allies, while

196 GAME BIRDS OF NORTH AMERICA.

those of Gambel's Partridge, and its relatives, are unlike any seen
in the family. The sexes of the Blue Partridge also are indis-
tinguishable from each other in plumage, while those of Gambel's,
etc., are very different in appearance. Generic terms are, as I
well know, often arbitrary, and sometimes most artificial, but in
this instance I cannot but think that these birds are more
properly placed in separate genera. It would be impossible to
define a single genus to contain them both, without using terms,
so far as the crests and plumage of the sexes are concerned, that
would contradict each other.

KEY TO THE SPECIES.
A. Crest short, blending with crown feathers.

SCALED PAR-

a. No chestnut patch on belly. \ tridge

b. Chestnut patch on belly.

C. squamata.

CHESTNUT-BELLY
SCALED PAR-
TRIDGE.

C. s. castanei-
gastra.

GENUS LOPHORTYX

(Greek X60os, lophos, a crest ; -j- 6/)ti;$, ortitx, a quail).

Lophortyx, Bonp. Geog., and Comp. List, 1838, p. 42. Type
Tetrao calif ornicus, Shaw.

Crest recurved, composed of several overlapping feathers,
lengthened, upright, widening from base to tip ; fewer and
smaller in the female. Tarsus shorter than middle toe and
claw. Sexes dissimilar in plumage.

The two species and one subspecies belonging to this genus
are the most graceful in carriage and beautiful in plumage of the
North American Partridges. The body is well proportioned to
the size of the bird, and the variegated dress and peculiar sway-
ing crest combine to present creatures of singular attractive-
ness. Loath to take wing, preferring to run so long as escape

SUBFAMILY ODONTOPHORIN^. 197

is possible by that method, they lack, to a certain degree, what
sportsmen are accustomed to regard as game qualities, and by
always indulging in these habits are particularly exasperating
to both man and dog. They are accustomed at certain periods
to assemble in large flocks, sometimes of several hundreds, and
are very abundant in the countries they inhabit. I have, under
the genus Callipepla, given my reasons why I have departed
from the arrangement in the Check List and separated these
birds from the Scaled Partridges genericall3\ In my opinion the
characters are too important to be classed subgenerically, and
are entitled to a full generic standing. In fact, there is very
little in common either in structure or habits, between the two
groups of birds. The only trait possessed by both, to a super-
lative degree, is that of putting their faith in their legs, instead
of, as would be more natural, in their wings. In all other re-
spects they are very unlike.

KEY TO THE SPECIES.

A. Crest lengthened, recurved, elevated, dis-
tinct from crown feathers.
a. Flanks olive-brown, streaked with white.

^ CALIFORNIA PAR-

a! . Upper parts smoky brown; inner edges | tridge.

of tertials deep buff. f L. calif or-

^ nictis.

VALLEY par-
tridge.

L. c. vallicola.

gambel's par-
tridge.
L. gambeli.

b' . Upper parts grayish brown, inner
edges of tertials whitish.

b. Flanks rich chestnut streaked with
white.

GENUS CYRTONYX
(Greek Kvprds, kiirtos, crooked; -\-t>vv^,omix, claw).

Cyrtonyx, Gould. Mon., Odont., pt. i. 1844, pi. vii. Type
Ortyx massena. Less. = O. vwntezuma, Vig.

Crest full, soft depressed, covering the occiput. Tail almost
hidden by the coverts. Bill stout ; tarsus shorter than middle
toe and claw, the latter greatly developed.

198 GAME BIRDS OF NORTH AMERICA.

Two species are included in this genus, both of which are es-
sentially Mexican, the present one only coming within our bor-
ders. They are remarkable for the fantastic coloring of the
head, short tail, and long claws, as well as for their unsuspicious
dispositions, which have earned for them the soubriquet of
" Fool quail." The species found in the Southern United States
is not very abundant any^vhere, and will probably soon be very
much less so. as making but little effort to escape their pursuers,
the members of a flock, when met with, usually all fall victims to
their misplaced confidence in man's forbearance.

\

A

A

SUBFAMILY TETRAONIN^.

This subfamily contains the Grouse of the world,
consisting of those birds which have the legs and feet
more or less feathered, such as the Ruffed Grouse
feathered to the heel, the Prairie Grouse and their allies
feathered to the toes, and Ptarmigan with both legs
and toes completely hidden by feathers. With the ex-
ception of the Turkeys this subfamily comprises the
largest known species of gallinaceous birds, and is fairly
well distributed over North America and the western
half of the Eastern Hemisphere. The larger number of
species with their subspecies are found in North America
between the Arctic Sea and the northern boundary of
Mexico, and the two great oceans that line the eastern
and western shores. The American species which in-
habit the prairies are met with in coveys usually com-
posed of from a dozen to twenty individuals, but at
certain seasons of the year, generally late in the autumn,
are accustomed to congregate in flocks often of hun-
dreds, and are then exceedingly wild and wary. The
forest-loving species are generally found in small com-
panies, the covey usually consisting of a single family,
and the birds never gather together in such enormous
numbers as do those inhabiting the plains. The flesh of
the species dwelling upon the prairies is mostly dark,
while that of the forest-loving birds, with one or two ex-
ceptions, is white. The flesh of all furnishes most
excellent food, save perhaps that of the Sage Cock,
and at certain seasons, the Spruce Grouse, which is bit-

199

200

GAME BIRDS OF NORTH AMERICA.

ter and unsavory, caused by the particular leaves on
which the birds feed. The American species, according
to my views, are divided into seven genera and twenty-
five species and subspecies.

KEY TO THE GENERA.
A. Legs feathered wholly, or in part.

a. Legs bare from the heel downward.

d. Legs feathered to the toes.
a' . Tail square at tip.-

a" . Tail feathers 20. Air sacs present.

b" . Tail feathers 16. Air sacs absent.

b' . Tail rounded of 18 rather stiff feathers.
Tufts of lengthened feathers over air
sacs.

c' . Tail pointed, of 18 soft feathers, cen-
tral pair longest. No tufts over air
sacs.

d' . Tail pointed, stiff, of 20 filamentous I
feathers. Breast feathers hair-like. f

B. Legs and toes covered with feathers.

GENUS BONA S A

RUFFED GROUSE.

Bonasa.
Page 74.

DUSKY GROUSE.

Dendragapus.
Page 90.

SPRUCE GROUSE.

Canac?iites.
Page 100.

PRAIRIE HENS.

Tyinpatnichus.
Page no.

SHARP-TAILED
GROUSE.

PedicEcetes.
Page 123.

COCK-OF-THE
PLAINS.

Cejitrocercus.
Page 136.

PTARMIGAN.

La go pus.
Page 142.

(Greek ^opaaa, Latin bonasiis, a bison. The bird's drumming
resembles a bison's bellow).

Bonasa, Steph. Gen. Zool., vol. xi., 1819, p. 298. Type Tetrao
umbellus^ Linn.

Head crested, rudimentary air sac covered by a tuft of broad,
soft, glossy feathers. Tail broad, long, rounded, fan-shaped.

\

SUBFAMILY TETRAONIN^. 201

Legs bare from heel, scutellated in front. Carriage upright,
dignified.

One species and three subspecies are recognized of this genus
in North America and three allied species {Genus Tetrastes), in
the Eastern Hemisphere. They are strictly birds of the woods
and thickets, exceedingly cunning and wary, strong of wing and
fruitful in expedients to foil the hunter and his four-footed ally,
and secure their own escape. The flight is powerful and well
sustained, and when startled the birds rise with such a whirring
noise that, on a calm day, it resounds through the woods like
distant thunder. The flesh is white and palatable, and the
species, from their thoroughly gamelike ways and habits, are
justly esteemed as perhaps the most gallant and desirable of our
native gallinaceous birds.

KEY TO THE SPECIES.

A. Upper parts rusty ; tail usually without
gray markings.

a. Pale above, markings on lower parts in- \

-,. . rr. .. ,, . , , , / RUFFED GROUSE.

distmct. Tail yellowish brown or och- )■ r, ,11

raceous. ;

b. Dark above, markings on lower part very \ sabine's grouse.
distinct. Tail rust color or reddish. ) B. ti. sahm.

B. Upper parts mostly or entirely gray. Tail
gray.

\ CANADIAN

a. Size large. >• ruffed grouse.

) B. 11. togata.

GRAY RUFFED
GROUSE.

B. u. umbel-
loides.

b. Size small.

GENUS DENDRAGAPUS
(Greek SevSpov, drendron, a tree; H-d7a7raa>, agapao,X.o\ov^.

Dendragapus, Elliot. Proc. Acad. Nat. Sci. Phil., 1864, p. 23.
Type Tetrao obscurus. Say,

Head slightly crested. Tail long, composed of twenty broad
feathers, square at tip. Air sacs on neck. Size large.

The single species and its two subspecies, comprising this
genus, are fine large birds with white flesh, strictly inhabitants

202 GAME BIRDS OF NORTH AMERICA.

of the forests, and are found only in the western portions of
North America amid the high mountain ranges. By having dis-
tensible sacs of bare skin upon the sides of the neck, and a tail
consisting of twenty broad feathers, these birds cannot properly
be included in the same genus with the Spruce Grouse, C. cana-
densis and C. frank lini, which have no air sacs, and only sixteen
rectrices in the tail. These characters are in my opinion strictly
generic and too important and conspicuous to permit the two
groups to be separated only subgenerically, but are as striking
and trenchant as any that separate these birds themselves from
those in other genera of the subfamily.

KEY TO THE SPECIES.

A. Under parts of adult males, mostly slate
color.
a. Tail with distinct gray band at tip.
a! . General colors, light. Tail band very \ dusky grouse.
broad. \ D. obscurus.

b'. General colors, dark, almost black. ) ^'^^'^^ grouse.

Tail band narrow. ( ^- ^- >^^^^'-

; 710SIIS.

Richardson's

GROUSE.

D. o. richard-
soni.

b. Tail without band at tip.

GENUS CANACHITES
(Greek, /camxew, kajtacheo, to be noisy).

Canachites, Stejn. Proc. U. S. Nat. Mus., vol. viii., 1885, p. 410.
Type, Tetrao canadensis, Linn.

Head without crest. Tail moderately long, nearly square at
tip, composed of sixteen feathers. No air sacs on sides of neck.
Toes naked, scaly, and fringed along the sides. Size small.

Two species only are included in this genus, the common
Spruce or Canada Grouse, and Franklin's Grouse, the latter
dwelling on the high mountain ranges of the western side of
North America. They are quite different in their pattern of
coloration, and the males are characteristically marked and
easily distinguishable.

SUBFAMILY TETRAONIN^. 203

KEY TO THE SPECIES.

A. Under parts of adult male, mostly black.
a. Upper tail-coverts narrowly tipped with \ Canada grouse.
grayish white. S C. canadensis.

franklin's

b. Upper tail-coverts broadly tipped with /

pure white. \ ^^^'-■=^'*-

) C. frank lint.

GENUS TYMPANUCHUS
(Latin Ty)upa7ium, a drum; -\-nticha,r\QQ\C).

Tympanuchus, Gloger. Gemeinutzig, Hand- und Hilfsbuch,
Naturg. , 1842, p. 396. Type, Tetrao cupido, Linn.

Air sacs on sides of neck, above which arise tufts of winglike,
lengthened, more or less acuminated, feathers. Head crested.
Tarsi rather scantily feathered to the toes, the latter webbed at
base. Tail short, rounded, consisting of eighteen feathers. Size
large, sexes similar.

The Prairie Hens are divided into three species and one sub-
species, constituting a well-marked and distinct group of the sub-
family, with characteristics that easily give them recognition
among their allies. They are essentially birds of the plains,
although they do not hesitate to perch upon the limbs of trees,
fences, or any support that may be most convenient at the time.
They go usually in coveys, generally consisting of a single family,
but in the autumn are accustomed to gather in enormous packs
and then are very difficult of approach. Formerly abundant
over much of eastern North America, they are now confined to
the prairie countries of the west and south, and the island of
Martha's Vineyard on the eastern coast. Throughout their dis-
persion there is little or no difference in the habits of the various
races.

KEY TO THE SPECIES.

A. Winglike tufts of feathers on the sides of
neck,
a. Neck tufts pointed. Size large.

a' . Scapulars without conspicuous white ) prairie hen.
terminal spot. Neck tufts very long. ) T. aviert'canus.

204 GAME BIRDS OF NORTH AMERICA.

b' Scapulars with conspicuous white ter- \ heath hen.
minal spot, neck tufts short. ) T. cupido.

b. Neck tufts rounded or almost square.
Size small.

LESSER PRAIRIE

a' . Without band of cinnamon rufous at I hen.

I

base of neck. j T. pallidi-

b' . With band of cinnamon rufous at base

cinctus.
attwater's
prairie hen.

of neck. i ^ 77 T

) I . a.attwatert

GENUS PEDICECETES
(Greek, TreStov, pedion, a plain; + oIk^ttjs, oiketes, an inhabitant).

Pedioecetes, Baird. B. North Am., 1868, p. 625. Type, Tetrao
phasianellus. Linn.

No tufts of feathers above air sacs. Head slightly crested.
Tarsi and base of toes feathered, the feathers in one species
covering the latter, reaching in hairlike webs to the claws. Toes
scutellated transversely above, fringed on sides with horny
comb-like processes. Tail of eighteen feathers, soft, pointed,
with the median pair longest and rather square at tip. Size
large, sexes similar.

One species and two subspecies comprise this genus of the
Sharp-tailed Grouse. Terrestrial in their habits, yet not averse
to perching on branches of trees and other convenient supports
like their allies, the Prairie Hens. They are more shy in their
dispositions than the members of the genus Tympanuchus, and
are not so fond of loitering about the farm buildings, but prefer
wild districts and man's absence. They go in small coveys for
the greater part of the year, but like other prairie dwellers, con-
gregate in immense packs, in the autumn. They are fine birds,
with many game qualities, and are found in the more central
portions of North America from the Arctic Sea to New Mexico.

KEY TO THE SPECIES.

A. Median tail feathers extending beyond the
rest.

a. General plumage mostly black and white.

sharp-tailed

grouse.

p. phasianel'

hiS.

SUBFAMILY TETRAONIN^. 205

b. General plumage lighter, pale brown
predominating.

] COLUMBIAN

a . Ground color of upper parts grayish sharp-tailed
clay color, with but little of a rusty \ grouse.
tinge. P. p. colutnbz-

anus.

>, PRAIRIE SHARP-

b' . Ground color of upper parts rusty or [ tailed grouse.
ochraceous. j P. p. cam-

J pestris.

GENUS CENTROCERCUS

(Greek Kevrpov, kentron, a spine; + K^pKO'i,kerkos,\.aJ(\).

Centrocercus, Swain. Faun. Bor. Amer., 1831, pp. 358, 496.
Type, Tetrao urophasianus, Bonp.

No crest. Enormous air sacs present of irregular contour,
fringed above by hairlike filaments, below covered with horny
white feathers like scales, varying with the seasons according to
the wear of the feathers. Tail very long, composed of twenty stiff,
narrow, graduated acuminate feathers. Bill large and strong.
Tarsi feathered to the toes. Sexes similar in plumage, but of
greatly disproportionate size; the female being very much the
smaller.

But one species is contained in this genus, the remarkable
Sage Cock, or Cock-of-the-Plains, with the exception of the
Capercailzie of the Old World, the largest species of the sub-
family, indeed almost equaling in bulk that giant of the Grouse
Tribe. It inhabits the sage plains of the West, subsisting mainly
upon the leaves of that plant, which give to the flesh an exceed-
ingly bitter taste. It is exclusively a terrestrial species, and it
has a vigorous, well-sustained flight, consisting of several rapid
beats of the pinions, succeeded by sailings with the wings held
stiff and motionless. It is an unique species, and has no par-
ticularly near relative. It goes in flocks, and at times exhibits
no fear of man.

GENUS LA GO PUS

(Greek Xa707roi;s, lagopus, hare foot).

Lagopus, Briss. Ornith., vol. i., 1760, p. 181. Type, Tetrao
lag opus, Linn.
Tarsi and toes densely feathered. Tail rather short, slightly

206 GAME BIRDS OF NORTH AMERICA.

rounded, consisting of fourteen feathers, but counting the two
long upper median coverts, sixteen. Sexes dissimilar, both
turning white in winter.

Ptarmigan dwell in high latitudes, and are found in the Arctic
regions of both hemispheres, one species, L. lagopus, being an
inhabitant of both the Old and New Worlds. They are recog-
nizable from other grouse by having the toes as well as the legs
covered with feathers, sometimes the claws even being hidden.
Also, all the species save one {Lagopus scoticus), turn white in
winter, and the difference between that and the summer dress is
so great, and the latter is retained for so brief a period, that the
plumage appears to be always in a transient state, and the birds
are robed for the greater portion of the year in a piebald dress.
There are recognized at present four species and six subspecies
inhabiting North America, and several other distinct species which
are natives of the Old World. While possessing characteristic
traits, which render them easily recognizable from each other,
when the specimens are before the observer, there is, nevertheless,
such a uniformity of color and markings among a number of the
species and their races, that it is no easy matter to indicate the
difference so as to clearly define them to the comprehension of any-
one who has not seen the specimens. Therefore the accompany-
ing key, while it gives the most marked differences observable,
may fail to be of equal assistance to those entirely unfamiliar with
Ptarmigan as are the keys for the other species of gallinaceous
game birds.

KEY TO THE SPECIES.
A. Tail always black.
• a. No black loral space in male.

^ WILLOW PTAR-

a!. Shafts of secondaries, white. \ migan.

L. lagopus.

Allen's ptar-

b' . Shafts of secondaries, black.* \ migan.

b. Black loral space in male.
a! . Male in summer with black blotches
on back and scapulars, vermiculations

L. I. alleni.

ROCK PTAR-

coarse. Ground color grayish brown. V migan.

Female, bright ochraceous, spotted and L. rupestris.
barred with black.

*See remarks in article on this bird, page 149.

SUBFAMILY TETRAOXIN^. 207

,,_.,. u 1 1 ^ reinhardt's

b . Male m summer, above less coarsely

barred. Female chiefly black, varied t r

., • u u «: \ L. r. rem-

with grayish buff. J ^^^^^^.

c' . Male in summer, brownish gray above, -^

vermiculated and spotted with black. { ^^^lchs ptar-
Female black, deep buff, and grayish f migan.

white. ^ ^' ^- "^^i^^hi.

d . Male in summer, dark russet above, \ nelson's ptar-

finely vermiculated with black with oc- ;- migan.

casional black blotches. ) L. r. nelsoni.

e' . Male in summer, above tawny ochrace- \ turner's ptar-

ous, russet, and gray, finely vermicu- r migan.

lated and dotted with black. ^ L. r. atkensis.

/'. Male in summer, raw-umber, above \ townsend's

tinged with russet, and finely vermicu- [- . ptarmigan.

lated and blotched with black. ) L.r.townsendi.

\ evermann's
g' . Male in summer, chiefly black and \ ptarmigan.

white, vermiculated with tawny. ) L. evermanni.

\ white-tailed
B. Tail always white. V ptarmigan.

) L. leucurus.

FAMILY PHASIANID^.

This is one of the largest, and, regarded as a source
of food supply to man, the most important family of
birds. It contains between eighty and ninety species,
with the exception of our Wild Turkeys all natives of the
Old World, and among its members are found some of
the most gorgeously plumaged creatures known in the
class of birds. Some of these which might be men-
tioned are the species of Lophophorus from India and
Asia, resplendent with metallic hues of gold and fiery red,
changing to blues and greens of varying intensity; the
ocellated spurred fowl of the genus Polyplectrum,
with wings and tail covered with oblong disks like great
eyes, of metallic blues, purples, and greens; of the various
graceful and highly-colored members of the genus Pha-
siANUS, and many others, constituting an assemblage
of remarkable species difficult to rival. In North
America the family is only represented by the common
Wild Turkey and its three races, and its beautiful relative
the Ocellated Turkey of Central America; but although
iew in number, yet considering what they have done for
man's comfort and welfare, and as the source from which
has been derived the domesticated race introduced into
many lands, our magnificent birds may be considered
with perfect propriety the most important members of
the Phasianidse throughout the World.

208

SUBFAMILY MELEAGRIN^.

This division of the great family of the Phasianida!
includes only the Wild Turkeys of the New World. By
some ornithologists these birds are deemed worthy of be-
ing considered a distinct family — Meleagridae, but it does
not appear that any particular advantage is gained by so
elevating them, or that these birds are any more entitled
to such a rank than many other species of Phasianidae
which have always been enrolled in subfamilies. The
Turkeys are no more characteristic and distinctive than
are the Pea-fowl, Tragopans, Crossoptilons, and many
others that might be mentioned, and are naturally a por-
tion of the one great family, containing the spurred,
beautifully plumaged fowl comprising the Phasianidae.
The Turkeys are of course very distinct from Partridges
-and Grouse, and are properly placed in a different family,
their many and peculiar characters separating them
widely from the members of Tetraoninae, w4th which in-
deed, beside a dress of feathers, they have little in com-
mon. Beside the two North American species and the
two races, only one other species is known, the wonder-
fully plumaged Ocellated Turkey of certain portions of
Central America, which in its gorgeous metallic hues is
not surpassed in brilliancy by any other known bird.

As game birds in the highest sense, affording sport
in the field, as well as food to countless people, the
Turkeys are among the most important members to the
human race of the feathered tribes.

209

2IO GAME BIRDS OF NORTH AMERICA.

For over one hundred years the specific name of gal-
lopavOy Linn, has been appHed to the common Wild Tur-
key of North America (the Mekagris sylvcstris novce
auglicc, of Ray, Av. 51); and by that name, even among
non-scientific persons, it is pretty generally known.
The fact as to what particular bird Linnaeus had before
him, and which became his type when he wrote the de-
scription in the Systema Naturae, — whether one of the
domesticated race descended from the Mexican Turkey,
or an example of the common North American species, —
cannot now be established with any degree of certainty,
and whatever change is made in the nomenclature of the
Wild Turkeys can have no solid foundation to rest upon.
But in regard to this point, a spirit of unrest is abroad,
and a new shuffle of the synonomy is attempted, and
among some ornithologists our northern bird is called
arnericana, a name without a description, given by Bar-
tram (Travels, 1791, p. 290), and by others sylvcstris
(Viell. N. Diet. d'Hist. Nat., 1817, vol. ix. p. 447), a
name taken from Ray, /. c, while the long employed and
familiar term of gallopavo is made to do service for the
White-rumped Mexican bird. It is of little consequence
by what name a species is called, provided it is one
accepted generally by ornithologists; and a change
should not be made unless it can be conclusively proved
that the name in use has been incorrectly adopted. It
is not apparent that in this instance it can be proved that
this has been the case, and the question then becomes
one of individual opinion when a change is agitated.

In a popular work, such as this book pretends to be,
the principal effort should be to furnish its readers with
the latest information on the subject of which it treats,
and to give the reasons, when possible, why any changes
are made, especially in the cases of long-accepted and

SUBFAMILY MELEAGRIN^E. 211

well-known terms. The author may or may not be in
sympathy with the attempted innovations, and, as in the
present case, may find it as impossible to prove them
erroneous as do its advocates to establish their correct-
ness, but as his chief object is to portray the species con-
tained in this volume, so that they may be recognized
by his readers when met with elsewhere, and also be
possessed of the same names, he has followed this new
departure, even though it may not be permanent.

If a change must be made from long-established and
harmonious custom, there is no question as to which
names the species of Turkeys must bear, according to
the A. O. U. code.

The common \\'ild Turkey must take the name of
syk'csfris, Viell., and not of amcvicana, Bartram, w-hich
is a nomcn nudum, and the Mexican Turkey must be
known hereafter as gallopavo, Linn., although that natu-
ralist may never have seen the bird.

Under the guise, therefore, of these new appellations
according to the very latest ideas, the Turkeys have been
arranged in the following key:

GENUS MELEAGRIS
(Greek, fi^Keaypis, meleagris, a guinea fowl).

Meleagris, Linn. Syst. Nat. ed., 10, vol. i., 1758, p. 156. Type,
M. gallopavo, Linn.

Head and upper part of neck, bare, carunculated, the male
with a dewlap considerably developed and an erectile process
at base of bill. Tarsus scutellated broadly before and behind,
armed with a spur in the male. Plumage compact, metallic, the
North American species with a tuft of hairlike feathers depend-
ing from the breast.

One species and three subspecies inhabit North America. One
of the subspecies, M. s. elh'oti, on account of the conspicuously
different markings of the female, quite unlike any other known

2 12 GAME BIRDS OF NORTH AMERICA.

form of turkeys, might properly be assigned a full specific rank.
These noble birds are too well known to make it necessary to go
into any details regarding them, beyond the accounts given in
the various articles in the body of this book. From the Mexican
and not from the North American bird came our stock of
domestic Turkeys, and nearly all the latter exhibit in their light
rumps and tipper tail-coverts the proof of their descent. The
so-called Bronze Turkey of the farm-yard has, however, a large
percentage of the blood of the wild Northern bird in his veins.

KEY TO THE SPECIES.

A. Tail tipped with deep rusty, upper tail-
coverts tipped with chestnut.

) WILD TURKEY

a. Bars on primaries reaching the shafts. j- j^j svlvestris

b. Bars on primaries not reaching the (
shafts, ) M. s. osceola.

FLORIDA WILD
TURKEY.

B. Tail and upper coverts tipped with och-
raceous buff.

C. Tail and upper coverts tipped with white.

ELLIOT S RIO
GRANDE
TURKEY.

M. s. ellioti.

MEXICAN WILD
TURKEY.

M. gallopavo.

INDEX.

Adak Island, 163

Agattu Island, 151

Akun Island, 159

Akutan Island, 159

Alaska, 88, 89, 90, 94, 95, 106,

108, 126, 151, 153, 167
Alaska, Northwestern, 100
Alaskan Coast, 151
Aleutian Chain, 156, 159, 161,

163, 165
Aleutian Islands, 158
Amchitka Island, 161
America, 38, 142
American Museum of Natural

History, 107
Anderson River, 123, 151
Anthony, A. W., 47, 48, 59
Arctic America, 153
" Ocean, 142
" Regions, 104, 124, 147,

151, 206
Arctic Sea, 199, 204
Argus Mountain, 44, 46
Arizona, Southern, 39, 49, 52
" Territory of , -20, 38, 49,

62, 67, 69, 72, 89, 93, 182, 185
Artemisia, 136
Asia, 208

Assiniboia, 136, 141
Astoria, 41
Atka Island, 161
Attu Island, 161, 165

Bad Lands, 132
Baird, S. F., 150
Barboquivari Range, 38
Barren Grounds, 151
Behring Sea, 151

Straits, 88
Belt Range, 106
Bendire, Capt. C, 42, 44, 47,

58, 59. 67
Bishop, Mr., 102
Bob White, 19, 20, 21, 22, 25,

27, 32, 33, 35, 36, 37, 38, 39,
41. 67, 77, no, 192, 194, 195
Bob White, Florida, 32

" Masked, 38, 194

Texan, 35, 36, 194
Bob Whites, 193
Boise City, 20
" River, 20
Bonasa, 200

umbellus, 80, 87, 201
" umbellus sabini, 83, 201
" umbellus togata, 87, 201
" umbellus umbelloides,
88, 201
Brazos River, 180, 181
Brewster, William, 118
British America, 123. 125, 171
Columbia, 57, 81, 84, 88,
106, 108, 126, 136, 141, 167
British Columbia, Northern, 83,
87

213

214

INDEX.

British North America, 98,

99
British Possessions, 100

" Provinces, 74, 147
Brown, Herbert, 38

California, 20, 30, 41, 42, 44,
46, 55, 60, 67, 81, 83, 90, 94,
95, 126, 136, 141
California Coast Region, 57

Lower, 44, 47, 48, 58
" Southern, 44

Callipepla, 193, 195, 197

" squamata, 52, 196

squamata castanei-
gastra. 54, 196
Cambridge, 118
Canachites, 200, 202

*' canadensis, 104,

202, 203
Canachites franklini, 108, 202,

203
Canada, 84, 142, 167, 172
" Dominion of, 84, 87
" Southern, 80
Cape St. Lucas, 55, 57, 68
Capercailzie, 136, 198
Cascade Mountains, 170
" Range, 84, 167
Central America, 208, 209
Centrocercus, 200, 205

." urophasianus,i4i

Chilcat Peninsula, 142
Coast Range, 41, 81, 83, 94, 97,

106
Cock of the Plains, 90, 136, 200,

205
Cock of the Woods, 136
Colinus ridgwayi, 39, 194
" strenua, 188
" virginianus, 30, 34, 194

Colinus virginianus floridanus,

33. 194
Colinus virginianus texanus,36,

187
Colorado, 20, 88, 90, 129, 134,

141, 167, 170
Colorado Desert, 62

" River, 49
Columbia, 41
Connecticut, 117
Coues, Dr. Elliott, 67
Crossoptilons, 209
Cumberland Gulf, 154
Crytonyx, 193, 197

" montezuma, 72

Dakota, no

" South, 19, 30
" Southwestern, 90, 93
Western, 88
Dakotas, The, 74, 80, 115, 132,

136, 141
Death Valley, 58
Dendragapus, 200, 201

" obscurus, 93, 97,

98, 99, 202
Dendragapus obscurus fuligi-

nosus, 97, 202
Dendragapus obscurus richard-
soni, 99, 202

Eastern Hemisphere, 186, 192,

199, 201
England, 184
Europe. 184
Evermann, Professor, 165

Fannin County, Texas, 49
Fisher, Dr., 44

Florida, 19. 30, 32, 33, 34, 172,
176, 179

INDEX.

215

Forest and Stream, 102
Fort Brown, 120

" Chimo, 150

" Simpson, 124

" Union, 62

" Whipple, 69
France, 1S4
Franklin Ba3\ 151

Georgia, 74

Northern, 80
Great Salt Lake, Valley of the,

20
Great Slave Lake, 123
Greenland, 151, 153, 154
Grouse, 74, 77, 79, 82, 84, S5,
86, 88, 89, 94, 98, 100, 104, 123,
126, 127, 128, 130, 189, 191, 199,
209
Grouse, Blue, 89, 90

" Canada, 100, loi, 106,
108, 202, 203
Grouse, Canadian, 85, 201

" Canadian Ruffed, 74,
84, 194
Grouse, Columbian Short-
tailed, 124, 126, 131, 205
Grouse, Dusky, 90, 91, 94, 97, 99,

103, 200, 202
Grouse, Fool, 92

" Franklin's, 106, 107,
108, 202, 203
Grouse, Gray, 90
" Oregon, 81
" Pine, 90

" Pinnated, 115, 117,
118, 120, 127, 128, 129, 134,
140
Grouse, Pintail, 126
" Prairie, 192
" Richardson's, 98, 202

Grouse, Ruffed, 74, 77, 79, Si,

82, 84, 88, 103, 199, 200, 201
Grouse, Ruffed Gray, 88, 201

Sage, 136, 137, 139, 140

*' Sabine's, 81, 82, 201

" Sharp-tailed, 123, 124,

128, 129, 134, 136, 140, 200, 204

Grouse, Sharp-tailed Prairie,

126, 129, 132, 205
Grouse, Spike-tail, 126

" Spruce, 199, 200, 202
" Soot3^ 94, 98, 157, 202
Willow, 142, 149, 150,
151, 152, 154, 155, 157, 161, 167
Gila Monster, 65

" River, 72
Gilroy, 20
Guadalajara, 36
Gulf States, 172, 176

Hawks, 79

Heath Hen, iii, 117, 204
Hempstead Plains, 117
Hen, Fool, 92
Huachuca Mountains, 38
Hudson Bay, 123, 124, 151

Strait, 164
Humbert River, 150

Idaho, 20, 30, 84, 88, 98, 167
" Northern, 87, 106
" Southeastern, 99
" Southern,- So, 90, 93
" Western, 97

Illinois, 129, 134

India, 208

Indiana, no

Indian Territory, 19, 115, 120,
172

In^'o Count3^ California, 44

Iowa, no

2l6

INDEX.

Kadiak Island, ioo, 104
Kansas, 19, no, 115, 120

" Southwestern, 120
Kentucky, no
Kentville, 103
Klamath Valley, 58
Kyska Island, 163

Labrador, Northern, 154

" Southern, 151, 153,

154
Lagopus, 200, 205

" evermanni, 165, 207

lagopus, 147, 150, 206
" lagopus alleni, 206
** leucurus, 171, 207
" rupestris, 153, 206
" rupestris atkensis,
161, 207
Lagopus, rupestris nelsoni, 207
" rupestris reinhardi,
200, 207
Lagopus rupestris townsendi,

161, 163, 207
Lagopus rupestris welchi, 157,

207
Lagopus Scoticus, 206
Lake Superior, 124
Liard River, 99, 171
Lockhart River, 123
Long Island, 117, 119
Lophophorus, 208
Lophortyx, 192, 193, 196

" calif ornicus, 57, 60,

197
Lophortyx calif ornicus vallic-

ola, 60, 197
Lophort^^x gambeli, 67, 197
Louisiana, 19, no, 115, 122

MacFarlane, Mr., 123

MacFarlane River, 151
Maine, 19, 30, 84, 104, 172
Manitoba, no, 115
Martha's Vineyard, in, 117,

119, 129, 203
Massachusetts, 74, 80, 117, 119
Meleagridae, 209
Meleagrinae, 183, 209
Meleagris, 211

" gallopavo, 185, 211,

212
Meleagris sylvestris, 176, 179,

181, 212
Meleagris sylvestris ellioti,

181, 211, 212
Meleagris sylvestris novae-an-

gliae, 210
Meleagris sylvestris oceola,

179, 212
Mexico, 36, 38, 39, 180, 182, 184,

199
Mexico, Eastern, 53, 180, 181
" Northern, 49
*' Northeastern, 54, 181
" Northwestern, 62, 67,
69
Mexico, Table-land of, 72

" Valley of, 50
Minnesota, State of, 74, 104
Michigan, State of, 74, 115, 172,
Mississippi, State of, 80, 172
" River, 19, 30

" Valley of the, no,

115

Missouri, 19, 30, no
Mogallon Mountains, 49
Mojave River, 58
Montana, 88, 98, 106, 126, 128,

129, 134, 167
Montana, Northwest, 108
Monterey, 57

INDEX.

217

Montezuma, 185
Mount Kearsage, 44
Magruder, 46

Nebraska, 141

Nevada, State of, 46, 58, 60, 67,

90, 97, 126, 141
New Caledonia, 84, 87

England, 22, 87, 104, 147
Newfoundland, 147, 149, 150, 157
New Hampshire, State of, 19
New Jersey, State of, 117, 119
Mexico, Territory of, 19,

30, 49, 52, 62, 67, 69, 70, 72,

89. 90, 93> 129, 134, 136, 141,

167, 171, 182, 204
New Mexico, Northern, 62

World, 142, 184, 185, 191,

199, 206, 209
New York, Northern, 87

State of, 19, 104,

142, 150
North America, 151, 160, 191,

192, 199, 202, 203, 204, 206,

208, 209, 210, 211, 212
Norton Sound, 88
Nova Scotia, 103
Nuevo Leon, 36

Odontophorin-€, 191, 192
Ohio, State of, 74, 115, 172
Old World, 191, 205, 208
Ontario, 115, 172

" Southern, 19, 30
Oregon, 20, 30, 41, 42, 55, 57,
58, 60, 84, 87, 106, 108, 128,
136, 141
Oregon, Eastern, 46
Oreortyx, 193, 194
" picta, 194

" pictus, 42, 46, 195

Oreortyx, pictus confinis, 48, 195
" pictus plumiferus, 46,

195
Ortyx, massena, 197

montezuma, 197

squamatus, 195
Owls, 79, 82

Pacific, 30. 81, 126

" Coast, 42, 81, 100, 106,
142
Panamint Mountains, 46, 60
Partridge, 19, 69, 71, 74

" American, 191, 192,
209
Partridge, California, 55, 56, 59,

62, 71, 196, 197
Partridge, Chestnut-bellied,

Scaled, 53, 196
Partridge, Birch, 74

" Black, 69, 100

Black-bellied, 69
Blue, 49, 52, 71, 196
Gambel's, 51, 55, 58,
62, 64, 66, 70, 71, 195, 196, 197
Partridge, Massena, 69, 70, 71,

193
Partridge, Mountain, 41, 44, 45,

157, 195
Partridge, Plumed, 44, 45, 195
San Pedro, 47, 195
Scaled, 49, 50, 52, 53,
195, 196
Partridge, Spruce, 100, loi, 104,

106, 107
Partridge, Valley, 58, 107

White Top-knot, 49
Partridges, 189, 201

" Helmeted, 193

' ' North American,

192

2l8

INDEX.

Partridges, Plumed, 193

" Scaled, 193, 197
Pea-fowl, 209
Pedioecetes, 200, 204

*' phasianellus, 124,

204
Pedioecetes phasianellus cam-

pestris, 134, 205
Pedioecetes phasianellus co-

lumbianus, 128, 205
Pennsylvania, Eastern, 119

" State of, 117,172,

176
Perdicinae, 191
Phasianidse, 183, 208, 209
Phasianus, 208
Pheasant, 74
Pine Hen, 89, 90
Plomoso, 38
Poly plectrum, 208
Prairie Chicken, no, iii, 114,

115, 126, 127, 129
Prairie Chicken, The Northern,

120
Prairie Hen, no, 114, 203

" " Attwater's,i22,204

" " Lesser, 120, 204

Prairie Hens, 202, 203, 204
Ptarmigan, 183, 184, 200
*• Allen's, 149, 206

" Evermann's, 165,

207
Ptarmigan, Nelson's, 159,

207
Ptarmigan, Newfoundland, 157
" Reinhardt's, 154,

207
Ptarmigan, Rock, 151, 155, 161,

206
Ptarmigan, Townsend's, 163,

207

Ptarmigan, Turner's, 161, 207
" Welch's, 157, 207

Willow, 151, 152,
206
Ptarmigan, white-tailed, 167,

207
Puget Sound, 20, 55

Quail, 19, 23, 24, 25, 27, 28, 33,

35, 36, 62, 63
Quail, Black, 69

*' Black-bellied, 69
" Cactus, 49
" Crested, 50

Florida, 33. 34
" Fool, 69, 70, 198
" Gambel's, 39, 62

Masked, 38
" Mountain, 169
" Snow, 169
" Texan, 37, 40
" Valley, 58, 62

White, 169
" White-crested, 49
White Topknot, 49
Quails, 191
Quickiock Falls, 153

RiDGWAY, R., 73

Rio Grande, Foothills of the,

53
Rio Grande, Lower Valley of

the, 54
Rio Grande, Valley of the, 35,

53, 69
Rocky Mountains, 93, 94, 98,

99, 100, 104, 108, 123, 126, 134
Rocky Mountain Region, 88
Rocky Mountains, Eastern, 128

Sage Cock, 137, 199, 205

INDEX:

219

Sage Hen, 138
San Antonio, 6g, 120
San Bernardino County, Cali-
fornia, 62, 67
San Francisco, 41, 42, 46
San Pedro Mountains, 47, 48
Seattle, 41

Sennett, G. B, 53, 180
Sierra Nevada Mountains, 44,

46, 58, 94
Silver City, 72
Sitka, 90, 142, 147
Snake River, 20
Sonora, 38, 39
Sonoita Creek, 38
Valley, 38
St. Augustine, 177
St. John's River, 177
St. Lawrence, Gulf of, 153
Staked Plains, 35

Tamaulipas, 36
Taos, 69, 167
Tetrao californicus, 196
" canadensis, 202
" cupido, 203
" lagopus, 205
" obscurus, 201
" phasianellus, 204
" umbellus, 200

urophasianus, 205
" virginianus, 193
Tetraonidae, 191, 192
Tetraoninse, 150, 189, 199,

209
Texas, 19, 35, 49. 53. 54, no,

115, 120, 122, 172, 176
Texas, Eastern, 30

Gulf Coast of, 122
Western, 36, 49, 52, 62,
67, 69, 72, 120, 182, 185

Townsend, Mr., 163
Tragopans, 209
Tucson, 38
Turkey, Bronze, 212

" Eastern wild, 181

Elliot's Rio Grande,
180, 212
Turkey, Florida wild, 177, 178,

212
Turkey, Mexican, 182, 185, 210,

211, 212
Turkey, Northern Wild, 179
" ocellated, 208, 209
" wild, 172, 173, 175, 176,
180, 182, 208, 212
Turkeys, wild, 183, 208, 209, 210
Turner, L. M., 154
Tympanuchus, 200, 203, 204

' ' americanus, 115,

119, 203
Tympanuchus, attwateri, 122,

204
Tympanuchus, cupido, 119, 204
" pallidicinctus,

120, 122, 204

United States, 19, 38, 49, 51,
69, 87, 90, 106, III, 123, 124,
167, 172

United States, Eastern, 19, 30,
80, 85, 88, 180

United States, Middle, 19, iii,

117
United States, Northern, 19,

33, 39. 180
United States, Northwestern,

126
United States, Southern, 22,

36, 74, 180, 181, 191
United States, Western, 19,

loi, 117, 162, 166, 167, 171

220

INDEX.

Utah, 20, 30, 58, 90, 141
" Southeastern, 62, 67

Valladores, 47
Vancouver Island, 42, 81
Vermont, State of, 19
Virginia, State of, 20, 74, 119

Washington, State of, 30, 41,
42, 55, 57. 84, 87, 106, 108,
126, 128, 136, 141

Western Hemisphere, 191,
192

West Indies Islands, 184

White-belly, 132
White Mountains, 49
Willamette Valley, 41, 58
Wilmot Horton River, 151
Wisconsin, State of, 74, 129,

134, 172, 176
Wyoming, Northern, 99

" State of, 90, 98, 126,

128, 167

Yukon River, 89

Valley of the, 88

Zerega, L. a., 150

COLOR CHART

The Chart at the end of this volume will greatly
assist readers to identify the various colors meo-
tioned in this work*

Shore Birds

By

UNIFORM WITH GAME BIRDS

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