COCK OF THE PLAINS. 613 



of the neck paler. Tail-coverts, scapulars, tertiaries, and the pos- 

 terior lesser coverts, blackish-brown, cut about half way to the shafts 

 by rather coarse ochraceous bars, intermixed with nearly an equal 

 number of pure ochraceous feathers thickly waved with fine black 

 lines. The breast, belly, and flanks are mostly pale ochre, broadly 

 blotched and barred with blackish-brown, intermixed on the belly 

 with some white feathers, and on the breast with a few of the finely 

 undulated ones. The vent, legs, tail, outer border of the wing, pri- 

 maries, secondaries, and greater coverts, white. The toes partially 

 naked and not pectinated, the nails short. In other specimens the 

 dorsal plumage, particularly on the head and neck, is nearly as grey 

 as in T. lagopus. 



COCK OF THE PLAINS. 



{Tetrao (Cextrocercus) urophasianus, Swainso.v, North. Zool. ii. 

 p. 358. pi. 58. NuTT. Man. Orn. i. p. 665.) 



The flight of this large bird is slow, unsteady, and attend- 

 ed with a whirring sound, the wings being kept in a hurried 

 motion, as in most other Grouse. It also runs much on the 

 ground in the manner of the Turkey, and is not very partial 

 to taking wing.* Their starting cry, like that of the com- 

 mon Pheasant, is a sort of ^Jcuk, 'kuk, 'kulc. They begin to 

 pair in March and April ; and at this time repair to emin- 

 ences on the banks of streams where they are seen assem- 

 bled about sun-rise. The male lowers his wings, and pro- 

 duces a humming sound as he trails his outspread pinions 

 on the ground ; the tail, at the same time, is spread out like 

 a fan, and the bare space on the breast is also accompanied 

 by a large inflation. He then struts proudly in the presence 

 of his intended mate, uttering a confused and disagreeable 

 *hurr-hurr-r-r-r~hoo' ending in a deep and hollow tone, like 



* This remark I owe to my friend Mr. N. J. Wyeth who has visited the remote 

 countries inhabited by this game. 



52 



