Part 102

293. 3. Ortyx plumifera, Gould. Plumed Partridge.

Plate CCCCXXII. Fig. 1. Male. Fig. 2. Female.

On the top of the head two linear-lanceolate decurved feathers, having their webs deflected; upper part of head, hind neck, fore part of back, lower part of fore neck, and a part of the breast, greyish-blue; feathers along the base of the bill, and a band from the eye down the side of the neck, white; elongated feathers on the head black; throat deep chestnut, margined on each side with a black line; back and rump reddish-brown; quills and tail-feathers wood-brown, margined with reddish-brown; inner secondaries broadly margined internally with white; middle of breast chestnut, as are the upper hypochondrial feathers, which are margined on their inner web toward the end with a narrow black and a broad white band, the intervening space on the sides broadly banded with white, black, and chestnut. Female somewhat less, similar to the male, but less brightly coloured.

Male, 11, wing 5-3/4. Female, 10, wing 5-1/2.

Columbia River, and Upper California. Rather rare. Migratory.

Plumed Partridge, Perdix plumifera, Aud. Orn. Biog. v. v. p. 226.

294. 4. Ortyx neoxenus, Vigors. Welcome Partridge.

Plate CCCCXXIII. Fig. 3. Young.

Crest short, straight, directed backwards, of about half a dozen elongated feathers; upper parts olive-brown, a rufous streak behind the eye; wing-coverts dark brown, with light margins; quills dusky brown, some of them slightly marked on the edges with paler spots; tail dusky, with about eight waved irregular lines of pale brown; lower parts dark brown, copiously marked with roundish white spots.

Length 7-1/2, wing 4-3/8.

California.

Welcome Quail, Ortyx neoxenus, Vig. Gard. and Menag. of Zool. Soc. v. ii. p. 311.

Welcome Partridge, Perdix neoxenus, Aud. Orn. Biog. v. v. p. 228.

FAMILY XXXII. TETRAONINÆ. GROUSE.

Bill short, stout, with the upper mandible convex, thin edged, without notches, its tip thin edged, obtuse, the lower mandible with the dorsal line slightly convex, the edges thin, the tip rounded. Head small, oblong; neck of moderate length; body very bulky. Feet short, stout; tarsus partially or entirely feathered; hind toe small, third long, lateral nearly equal, all scutellate, anterior webbed at the base. Claws moderate or long, arched, rather depressed, blunt. Plumage full and soft; feathers with the plumule much developed. Wings rather short, convex, rounded. Tail various, of more than twelve feathers. A bare coloured space on each side of the neck, usually concealed by the feathers; but in some species capable of being distended so as to protrude. A bare red membrane over the eye, more developed in the males. Tongue triangular, pointed; œsophagus with an enormous crop; stomach a very powerful gizzard, having the lateral muscles extremely developed, the epithelium dense, with two concave grinding surfaces; the intestine long and wide; cœca excessively elongated, cylindrical, with internal longitudinal ridges. Nest on the ground, rudely constructed. Eggs numerous, spotted. Young covered with stiffish down.

GENUS I. TETRAO, Linn. GROUSE.

Bill short, robust; upper mandible with the dorsal line decurved, the ridge convex, narrowed at the base, the sides convex, the edges sharp and overlapping, the tip thin-edged and rounded; lower mandible with the angle long and wide, the dorsal line convex, the sides rounded, the edges inflected, the tip rounded. Nostrils roundish, in the fore part of the large and feathered nasal depression. Head small, ovate; neck of ordinary length; body large and full. Feet stout, of moderate length; tarsus short, feathered, at the lower part sometimes bare, and scutellate; toes bare, scutellate, with a marginal fringe of pectinate scales. Claws rather large, arched, compressed, obtuse. Plumage full, soft, rather blended. Wings rather short, convex, much rounded, the third and fourth quills longest. Tail rounded, of more than twelve feathers.

* Tarsus partially bare.

295. 1. Tetrao Umbellus, Linn. Ruffed Grouse.--Partridge Pheasant.

Plate XLI. Male and Female.

Male with the feathers of the head narrow and elongated into a decurved tuft; an erectile ruff of broad, abrupt, glossy feathers, in two tufts; tail of eighteen feathers, rounded. Upper part of head and hind part of neck bright yellowish-red, variegated with dusky; back chestnut, marked with oblong white spots, margined with black; quills brown, their outer webs pale yellowish-red, spotted with dusky; upper tail-coverts banded or spotted with black; tail reddish-yellow, narrowly barred and minutely mottled with black, and terminated by a broad band of the latter, between two narrow bands of greyish-white; a yellowish-white band from the bill to the eye, beyond which it is prolonged; throat and fore neck light brownish-yellow; lower ruff-feathers of the same colour, barred with reddish-brown, upper black, glossed with blue; lower parts yellowish-white, with broad transverse spots of dusky or brown. Female with the crest and ruff less developed, the latter of a duller black; the tints of the plumage duller than in the male. In the northern parts the plumage is generally less red, but otherwise similar.

Male, 18, 24.

Common from Maryland to Labrador, and in the interior, from the mountainous districts to Canada and the Saskatchewan. Columbia River. Resident.

Ruffed Grouse, Tetrao umbellus, Wils. Amer. Orn. v. vi. p. 46.

Tetrao umbellus, Bonap. Syn. p. 126.

Tetrao umbellus, Ruffed Grouse, Swains. & Rich. F. Bor. Amer. v. ii. p. 342.

Ruffed Grouse, Nutt. Man. v. i. p. 657.

Ruffed Grouse, Tetrao Umbellus, Aud. Orn. Biog. v. i. p. 211; v. v. p. 560.