TUE RUFFED GROUSE. 



OF THE GROUSE IN GENERAL. 



The Grouse have strong, convex bills ; and some of tlie species have 

 a naked scarlet skin above each eye. The flesh of all the species ia 

 brown, but is excellent food. 



The birds of this tribe which are known in Great Britain, are the 

 different species of Grouse, 

 Partridges, and Quails. Of 

 these, the Grouse are in- jp^^^MjpS|^ y ' ^^2''*'*^ 



habitants chiefly of bleak l®^^^iS^^^^'''*'-'^r^W\^'**I^ 



and mountainous tracts of 



country. To defend them 



from the effects of cold, ..^. mmms^^j^s^-^^^is^M^^ss^' ^ 



their legs are feathered |/||^r'^^^|^^^^^^^^^^g^^^CT^ 



down to the toes. The 



nostrils are small, and are 



hidden under the feathers. 



Their legs are stout, and 



the tail generally long. 



Partridges and Quails in 



habit the warmer and more cultivated parts of the country. Their 



tail is short, and their nostrils are covered with a hard prominent 



margin. 



THE 0ROU8E. 



TKE RUFFED GROUSE. 



The size of this bird is between that of a Pheasant and Partridge. 

 The bill is brownish. The head is crested; and as well as all the 

 vipper parts, is variegated with different tints of brown mixed with 

 black. The feathers on the neck are long and loose; and may be 

 ijrected at pleasure, like those of the cock. The throat and the fore 

 Dart of the neck are orange brown; and the rest of the under parts 

 ire yellowish white, having a few curved marks on the brea>t and 

 sides. The tail consists of eighteen feathers, all of which are crossed 

 with narrow bars of black, and with one broad band of the same near 

 the end. The legs are covered to the toes (which are flesh-culored, 

 and pectinated on the sides) with whitish hairs. 



This beautiful species of Grouse, known by the np'no of Pheas^.nt 

 in the Middle and Western States, and by tliat of Partridge in New 

 England, is found to inhabit the continent from Uudsun's Bay and 

 the parallel of 56° to Georgia, but are most abundant in the North- 

 ern and Middle States, where they often prefer the most elevate* I 

 and wooded districts ; and at the south they affect the mountainous 

 ranges of valleys which border upon, or lie within the chains of the 

 Alleghanies. They are also prevalent in the Western States a3 far as 

 the line of the State of Mississippi, and though not found on the 

 great western plains they appear in the forests of the Rocky Moun- 

 tains, and ^llow the Columbia nearly to the Pacific. 



