Part 104

Pinnated Grouse, Tetrao Cupido, Wils. Amer. Orn. v. iii. p. 104.

Tetrao Cupido, Bonap. Syn. p. 126.

Pinnated Grouse, Nutt. Man. v. i. p. 662.

Pinnated Grouse, Tetrao Cupido, Aud. Orn. Biog. v. ii. p. 490; v. v. p. 559.

**** Toes partially feathered. Tail graduated.

299. 5. Tetrao Urophasianus, Bonap. Pheasant-tailed Grouse.--Cock of the Plains.

Plate CCCLXXI. Male and Female.

Male with bristle-feathers on the sides of the neck, on its lower part small, scale-like feathers; a large bare yellow space on each side, capable of being inflated; tail long, graduated, of twenty, stiffish, acuminate feathers. Upper parts light yellowish-brown, variegated with brownish-black, and yellowish-white; primary quills chocolate-brown, thin outer webs, and part of their inner margins mottled with yellowish-white; tail with about ten bands of yellowish-white on the outer webs, which are otherwise variegated like the back, the inner webs nearly plain brown; throat and fore part of neck whitish, longitudinally spotted with brownish-black; a narrow white band across the throat; sides of the neck, and fore part of breast pure white; sides variegated like the back; axillars and lower wing-coverts white; and part of breast and abdomen black; lower tail-coverts brownish-black, largely tipped with white; tibial and tarsal feathers brownish-grey, faintly barred with brown. Female much smaller, and differing in being destitute of the bare skin on the neck, the plumage entirely of ordinary texture, the tail less elongated, with the feathers less narrow; upper parts variegated as in the male, lower dull yellowish-grey, undulated and streaked with dusky; middle of breast brownish-black, lower tail-coverts tipped with white.

Male, 30, 36. Female, 22.

Rocky Mountains and Columbia River, northward. Once seen on the Missouri. Abundant. Partially migratory from high to low grounds in autumn and winter.

Tetrao urophasianus, Bonap. Amer. Orn. v. iii. pl. 21.

Tetrao (Centrocercus) urophasianus. Cock of the Plains, Swains. & Rich. F. Bor. Amer. v. ii. p. 358.

Cock of the Plains, Nutt. Man. v. i. p. 666.

Cock of the Plains, Tetrao urophasianellus, Aud. Orn. Biog. v. iv. p. 503.

300. 6. Tetrao Phasianellus, Linn. Sharp-tailed Grouse.

Plate CCCLXXXII. Male and Female.

A decurved crest of narrow feathers; a bare space on each side of the neck capable of being inflated; tail short, much graduated, of sixteen feathers, all of which are more or less concave, excepting the two middle ones along the inner edge, obliquely and abruptly terminated, the two middle projecting an inch beyond the next. Upper parts variegated with light yellowish-red, brownish-black, and white, the latter in terminal triangular, or guttiform spots on the scapulars and wing-coverts; quills greyish-brown, primaries with white spots on the outer web, secondaries tipped and barred with white; tail white, at the base variegated, the two middle feathers like the back; loral space, and a band behind the eye yellowish-white, a dusky streak under the eye; throat reddish-white, with dusky spots; fore parts and sides of neck barred with dusky and reddish-white; on the breast the dusky spots become first curved, and then arrow-shaped; and so continue narrowing on the hind part of the breast and part of the sides, of which the upper portion is barred; abdomen, lower tail-coverts, and axillars, white; tarsal feathers light brownish-grey, faintly barred with whitish. Female smaller, but similar to the male, with the tints duller.

Male, 17-1/2, 23.

Missouri, Lat. 41°, to Slave Lake, Lat. 61°. Rocky Mountains. Abundant on the Saskatchewan Plains. Accidental in the northern parts of Illinois. Resident.

Tetrao Phasianellus, Bonap. Amer. Orn. v. iii. p. 37.

Tetrao Phasianellus, Bonap. Syn. p. 127.

Tetrao (Centrocercus) Phasianellus, Sharp-tailed Grouse, Swains. & Rich. F. Bor. Amer. v. ii. p. 361.

Sharp-tailed Grouse. Nutt. Man. v. i. p. 669.

Sharp-tailed Grouse, Tetrao Phasianellus, Aud. Orn. Biog. v. iv. p. 569.

GENUS II. LAGOPUS. PTARMIGAN.

Bill short, robust; upper mandible with its dorsal outline decurved, the ridge indistinct and rounded, the sides convex, the edges overlapping, the tip declinate, thin-edged, rounded; lower mandible, with the angle of moderate length and rounded, the dorsal line convex, the sides rounded, the edges a little inclinate, the tip rounded; nasal sinuses large and covered with feathers, leaving the ridge narrow between them. Nostrils basal, roundish, concealed by the feathers. Head small, ovate; neck rather long; body bulky. Feet rather short, stout; tarsus feathered, as are the toes, which have two or three terminal scutella; hind toe extremely short, lateral toes equal. Claws slightly arched, depressed, thin-edged, rounded. Plumage full and compact, the feathers rounded. Wings short, convex, the primaries strong, narrow, tapering, the third longest, the fourth and second little shorter. Tail short, nearly even, of more than twelve broad feathers.

301. 1. Lagopus albus, Gmel. Willow Ptarmigan.--Willow-Grouse.

Plate CXCI. Male, Female, and Young.