The Bird Itself 9 



nized is dependent upon the degree of variation one requires for 

 such distinction. 



I lay no claim to being an authority on the taxonomy of the ruffed 

 grouse. Even so, having examined many hundreds of specimens of 

 all ages and at all seasons from the northeastern states, I am thor- 

 oughly impressed with the imending variety in pattern and colora- 

 tion of this remarkable bird. I have also seen birds of different sub- 

 specific pattern in single broods. How we view the question of 

 subspecies depends upon whether we subscribe to the beliefs of the 

 "lumpers" or the "splitters." I go along with the lumpers, for the 

 sake of simplicity. My inclination is to go along with Todd in aban- 

 doning B. u. thayeri and B. u. hrunnescens. But I am equally un- 

 S}Tnpathetic to the eight new subspecies suggested by Todd, Bailey 

 and Aldrich and Friedmann. If the authorities reconsider the sub- 

 species of Bonasa umhellus for the next edition of the Check List, 

 I would cast my vote for simplification to four— corresponding to 

 the present subspecies umhellus, togata, sabini, and umbelloides. 

 However, for the sake of those who find merit in taxonomic detail, I 

 commend the revision of Aldrich and Friedmann. 



Immature. The juvenile plumage is similar to that of the adult but 

 with less of contrasting blacks and whites, more of a pattern of 

 somber browns. The ruffs are inconspicuous and the sexes are identi- 

 cal. The shape of the primaries and secondaries is less attenuate 

 than in the adult, due to the greater width of the outer vane and 

 the more blunt tips. The upper throat and chin are whitish. 



The downy young are brownish buff on the upper parts mottled 

 with pale buff, and yellowish buff below. There is a prominent black 

 line extending behind the eye, occasionally broken. 



PTERYLOGRAPHY 



The fact that the feathers on a bird do not grow out of the skin 

 evenly over the body, as does hair on a mammal, comes as a surprise 

 to the average person. As every bird student soon learns, there are 

 bare areas on the bird from which no feathers arise, and the areas 

 from which the feathers do grow are called feather tracts. The ex- 

 tent and arrangement of these tracts (which vary greatly among 

 ])irds) is called pterylosis and their study is called pterylography— 

 the geography of feathers. 



