154 



BULLETIN 50, UNITED STATES NATIONAL MUSEUM 



toe, the outer toe slightly longer, hallux about as long as basal phalanx 

 of lateral toe or very slightly shorter ; top of toes with a continuous row 

 of rather large transverse scutella, with a row of much smaller subquad- 

 rate scutella along each side, outside of which are horny pectinations or 

 fringelike processes (these less distinct in summer) ; claws moderate 

 in size and curvature, rather blunt, that of hallux smaller. 



Figure \0.—Bonasa iimbcHus. 



Plumage and coloration. — Plumage in general soft, the remiges, espe- 

 cially the primaries, firm, almost rigid ; feathers rather distinctly out- 

 lined, except on lower abdomen, anal region, and thighs, where soft, 

 downy, and blended, those of sides and flanks large and very broad ; a 

 naked space immediately above eye (most developed as brightly colored — 

 orange or red — in males during summer) ; feathers of crown distinctly 

 elongated, forming, when erected, a rather conspicuous crest ; on each 

 side of neck a conspicuous erectile tuft of large, very broad, soft, nearly 

 truncate, decumbent feathers. Upperparts variegated with black, bufif 

 and different tones of brown and rusty or gray, the tail, scapulars, and 

 wing coverts streaked with buff or whitish, the rump with rather small 

 cordate or ovate spots of pale grayish or dull buffy ; tail gray or rusty, 

 with numerous irregular or zigzag narrow bars of blackish and with a 

 broad subterminal band of blackish or dark brown ; neck tufts black, dark 

 brown, or chestnut, each feather with a glossy or semimetallic terminal 

 margin or bar ; throat buffy or ochraceous, sometimes with dusky mark- 

 ings ; rest of underparts buff or whitish, more or less broken by broad 

 bars of brownish, these much broader and darker on flanks. 



Range. — Wooded portions of North America, except in Lower Austral 

 Life Zone. (Monotypic.) 



