436 Field Museum of Natural History — Zoology, Vol. IX. 



feathers; throat and breast, rufous, mottled and barred with black; 

 feathers of the under parts barred with pale rufous, black and white; 

 tail, brownish black, mottled and barred with pale rufous brown, the 

 outer feathers, broadly tipped with pale rufous; axillars, as in the 

 male. 



Length, about 15.25; wing, 6.60; bill (from end of nostril), .40. 



This species is not uncommon in northern Wisconsin, but does 

 not occur in Illinois. 



"A very common resident in the coniferous forests of northern 

 Wisconsin, where it is partial to swamps." (F. H. King, Geology 

 of Wisconsin, Vol. I, 1883, p. 591.) "Fairly common resident in the 

 pine regions of the state, but so far as we can learn has never been 

 found south of the pine belt. * * * In some sections of our extreme 

 northern counties many still remain." (Kumlien and Hollister, Birds 

 of Wisconsin, 1903, p. 56.) 



The nest is built on the ground. The eggs are 10 to 16 in number, 

 buff color, speckled and spotted with dark brown, and measure about 

 1.70 X 1.20 inches. 



Genus BONASA Stephens. 



142. Bonasa umbellus (Linn.). 

 Ruffed Grouse. Partridge. 



Distr.: Eastern United States and southern Canada, west to 

 Minnesota; also mountainous regions of Georgia, Mississippi, and 

 Arkansas. 



Adult male: Upper plumage, mixed gray, tawny brown and 

 black; some scapulary feathers, broadly marked with buffy white; 

 throat, pale tawny brown, sometimes with narrow indistinct bars of 

 black; feathers on the lower breast and belly, broadly tipped with 

 white and barred with black or brown; inner webs of primaries, gray- 

 ish brown; outer webs, barred with buff white or dull white; tail, 

 pale brown, irregularly barred with gray and black, and with a broad 

 subterminal band of black or brown, the feathers tipped with gray; 

 a tuft of black feathers on the side of the neck, edged with iridescent 

 green; axillars, barred with brown and white. Plumage very vari- 

 able, often with a rufous brown tinge to the feathers ; some specimens 

 have the ruffle or tufts of feathers on the sides of the neck chestnut 

 brown, with iridescent edges instead of black, and the bands on the 

 tail, brown. 



Adult female: Similar, but slightly smaller and has the tufts of 

 feathers on the neck smaller and browner. 



