Part 34

WILLOW PTARMIGAN 301. Lagopus lagopus. 15 in.

In winter, white with black tail feathers. In summer, usually reddish-brown with black bars. This species has a much stouter bill than the next.

Nest.—Eggs laid on the ground. Rich buffy, so heavily blotched and streaked with black as to nearly conceal it (1.75 × 1.25).

Range.—Breeds in the northern half of Canada, migrating southward to southern Canada.

301a., Allen Ptarmigan (L. l. alleni), found in Newfoundland, is similar, but in winter the shafts of the primaries are always black.

ROCK PTARMIGAN 302. Lagopus rupestris. 14 in.

In winter, like the last species, except that the bill is smaller, and the lores are black.

Range.—From the Gulf of St. Lawrence and northern British Columbia northward. 302a. Reinhardt Ptarmigan, replaces the last variety in northern Labrador. 303. Welch Ptarmigan (L. welchi), found in Newfoundland, is said to be grayer in summer.

PRAIRIE HEN; PINNATED GROUSE 305. Tympanuchus americanus. 18 in.

Tufts of neck feathers rounded or square at the ends, long on the males, and short on the females. Above, barred with brownish-black and white or buffy white, the bars being of about equal width; top of head barred black and grayish. Female differs from the male in having the tail feathers barred, whereas they are black in the male. Found locally throughout the prairie regions of the Mississippi Valley north to Manitoba. Owing to the immense numbers shot for sale in eastern markets, they have become exterminated in many places where they were formerly abundant. Male birds have a loose sac or naked skin beneath the tufts of feathers on the neck; they inflate these to the size of small oranges, and then produce a loud, hollow, resonant booming sound.

Nest.—Anywhere on the ground on the prairie; eggs olive-buff, finely specked with brown.

Range.—From La. and Tex. north to Manitoba and Dakota. 305. Attwater Prairie Hen, smaller and darker, is found in Louisiana and Eastern Texas.

HEATH HEN 306. Tympanuchus cupido. 17 in.

Neck feathers pointed; scapulars more broadly tipped with white; axillars always barred; top of head paler and always brownish. These differences will always separate this species from the very similar western bird. They were formerly found throughout Southern New England and the Middle States, their range meeting that of the Prairie Hen, but now they are restricted to the island of Martha’s Vineyard, south of Mass., and probably the true form is extinct there for western birds have been liberated on the island and interbred with the natives.

LESSER PRAIRIE HEN 307. Tympanuchus pallidicinctus. 16 in.

Nearest like the prairie hen but paler above, the brown bars being narrower and lighter colored, but with the edges blackish, giving the back of the bird a very different appearance from that of the Prairie Hen. It is found in western Kansas, Indian Territory and Texas.

PRAIRIE SHARP-TAILED GROUSE 308b. Pediæcetes phasianellus campestris. 18 in.

No pinnates or ruffs on the neck, but the head is crested a little more than that of the Prairie Hen; tail with the central feathers nearly two inches longer than the rest, which are also graduated so the outside ones are much the shortest. Plumage much paler than that of the Prairie Hen, and feathers on the breast and sides being marked with blackish loops. Found in more or less abundance on the plains and prairies west of the Mississippi River. In mating season flocks of them indulge in curious antics, dancing, ruffling their feathers, and cooing and crowing.

Nest.—Eggs laid in a hollow in the ground, usually sheltered by a tuft of grass or bunch of weeds. The eggs are brownish-drab, finely specked, over the whole surface, with blackish-brown (1.70 × 1.25).

Range.—West of the Miss. River, from New Mexico and Indian Territory north to Manitoba. 308. Sharp-tailed Grouse, is found in the interior of British America from Hudson Bay to Alaska. Darker and less rusty than the preceding.

SAGE GROUSE 309. Centrocercus urophasianus. 29 in.

The female of this large and very interesting grouse differs from the male only in its smaller size and paler, duller plumage. They are found in abundance on the dry sagebrush-covered plains about the Rocky Mts. and to the westward. In summer they feed largely upon insects and buds of various plants, but in fall and winter, their food is almost entirely the leaves of the sagebrush; at this season, in consequence, their flesh is unfit to eat, so they are not hunted for market, and are able to pursue a life of quiet as far as man is concerned. In spring, they indulge in amusing play, as do all the grouse; they have a few wiry hairs on either side of the neck, covering the naked sacs that correspond to those of the Prairie Hen; they strut about with these sacs inflated, and their spread tail, erect, making peculiar buzzing sounds.

Nest.—Eggs laid on the ground under sagebrush; greenish-buff, spotted rather sparingly with brown.

Range.—Sagebrush covered plains from New Mexico to Southern British Columbia and Assiniboia.

Family Meleagridæ

WILD TURKEY 310. Meleagres gallopavo silvestris. 48 in.

Female much smaller and duller colored than the male. These fine, large birds frequent woodlands and borders of streams, where they search through the underbrush for food in the daytime and sleep in the tallest trees at night. They are one of the shyest birds, and they have reasons for being, for they have been hunted until there are none left in New England and northern Middle States. Wild Turkeys strut and gobble precisely like domestic ones. Their plumage is more of a coppery bronze color and their upper tail coverts are rusty, without white edges.

Nest.—Eggs laid on the ground among leaves, usually in dense thickets; buff, spotted with brown (2.55 × 1.90).