6 The Ruffed Grouse 



cording to Coues ( 1903 ) , this subspecies was discovered by Lewis 

 and Clark in 1805-06 and first named Tetrao fusca by Ord ( Guthrie's 

 Geography, 2nd Am. ed. ii, 1815, pp. 317). "In strictness . . . this 

 bird should be called B. u. fusca Coues," but he waives the point in 

 favor of B. u. sahini as redescribed by Douglas. 



B. umbellus yukonensis (Grinnell), the Yukon ruffed grouse 

 (A.O.U. No. 300e), is the largest and grayest of the subspecies, simi- 

 lar to B. u. umhelloides but the light colors are more ashy and the 

 dark markings finer. 



While the six subspecies just described are all that were recognized 

 ofiicially in the 1931 edition of the A.O.U. Check List of North Ameri- 

 can Birds, several others have been described since this check list 

 was printed.^ One, from Vancouver Island, named B. u. hrunnescens 

 by Conover (1935), has since been accepted for the A.O.U. Check 

 List (Auk Vol. 61, No. 3, July 1944). It is described as being most 

 closely related to sabini but with a browner (less reddish) upper 

 surface except for the tail. The tail is either a dull ochraceous umber 

 instead of ferruginous in the red phase, or a clear giay without red- 

 dish cast and without double crossbaning in the gray phase. It is 

 much darker brown on the upper parts than either umhelloides or yu- 

 konensis, and is more buffy below with more brown barring. It is 

 thought to be restricted to Vancouver Island and islands adjacent to 

 British Columbia and the mainland from Vancouver to Malaspina 

 Inlet. 



Three additional subspecies are described by Todd (1940) as fol- 

 lows: B. u. monticola, Appalachian ruffed grouse, "similar to B. u. um- 

 bellus but general coloration darker; the under parts more regularly 

 and more heavily barred and more strongly suffused with buff." 

 This subspecies is ascribed to the Appalachian mountain region from 

 West Virginia southward. According to Wetmore (1941), birds 

 from this area are indistinguishable from B. u. togata. 



The second new subspecies described by Todd is B. u. medianus, 

 Minnesota ruffed grouse, "Similar to B. u. umhelloides, but the upper 

 parts are less grayish, more rufescent, and the under parts are more 

 albescent and less heavily barred." Its range is given as the "Transi- 

 tion Zone from Alberta to southeastern Minnesota (and probably 

 farther east)." 



Third of Todd's new subspecies is B. u. canescens, northern ruffed 



1 A subspecies, called E. u. Johdi, was described in 1871 by Jaycox from birds 

 taken near Itliaca, N. Y. It was not accepted for the check list, however. 



