TETRAONIDJE — TETRAONINJE: GROUSE. 57-9 



below, and orange tail-end. Length usually 16.00-17-00 ; wing 7-00 ; tail 5.50. Hen rather 



sniiillcr. No continuous black below, whore white and tawny, latter particularly on breast, 



nearly everywhere pretty regularly wavy-barred with blackish. Above, more like the male, but 



browner. End of tail more narrowly orange. 



Pullets resemble the hen. N. Am., E. of the 



K. Mts., northerly, in woodland. N. nearly or 



quite to the limit of trees ; N. W. to Alaska. 



S. into the northern tier of States, especially 



Elaine, Michigan, and Minnesota ; casually to 



Massachusetts. It is a very hardy bird, enduring 



the rigors of sub-arctic winters, and not properly 



migratory. Eggs numerous, 1.6S X 1-20, rather 



jKnuted, buff-colored, dotted, spotted, and boldly 



splashed with rich chestnut. Shape and pattern 



of eggs more like those of ptarmigan than of the Fig. 397. — Canada Grouse, nat. size. (Ad nat. 



])rairie grouse. 



556 c. c. frank'Uni. (To Sir John Franklin.) Franklin's Spruce Grouse. Size, shape, and 

 whole appearance of the foregoing. Tail rather longer, more nearly even, with broader feathers ; 

 lacking the terminal orange bar ; tipped narrowly with white, its upper coverts tipped with 

 wliite, making the upper side of the tail conspicuously spotty. Rocky and Cascade Mts., 

 northerly, in U. S., and northward about sources of the Saskatchewan, Athabasca, and 

 McKeuzie Rivers. A mere variety of C canadensis : the variation parallel with that of C. 

 richardsoni as compared Avith C. obscura. 



557. c. obscu'ra. (Lat. obscura, dark.) DusKY Grouse. Blue Grouse. Gray Grouse. 

 Pine Grouse. Old cock : Back and wings blackish-brown, finely waved and vermiculated 

 in zigzag with slate-gray, mixed with more or less ochrey-brown and some white on the scapu- 

 lars. Long feathers of the sides with white ends and shaft stripes; other under parts fine 

 bluish -gray or light slate color, varied with white, especially on the lower beUy, flanks, and 

 vent-feathers. Cheeks black ; chin and throat finely speckled with black and Avhite. Though 

 the lateral feathers of the neck are smooth and simple, forming no decided tufts as in Cupklonia 

 or Bonasa, they are somewhat enlarged, covering a rudimentary tympanum : these feathers 

 with snowy white bases and black tips. Tail brownish-black, veined and marbled with gray, 

 and with a broad slate-gray terminal bar ; of 20 feathers, broad to their very ends, the tail as 

 a whole slightly rounded. Bill black; iris brown - orange ; comb over eye. Size very variable ; 

 well-grown cocks usually 20, or 22 inches, sometimes up to 2 feet long ; extent of wings about 

 30 inches ; wing 9 or 10 ; tail 7 or 8. Hen smaller, and more motley, lighter colored and more 

 extensively varied with white and tawny ; but showing the distinctive slate-gray of the under 

 parts, and the slate bar at end of the tail. Pullets like the hen, but the upper parts with ham- 

 mer-headed white shaft-lines. Tail with white shaft-lines enlarged at the end, also marked on 

 some of the feathers with wavy blackish crossbars. Rocky and other Mts., U. S., to the Pacific. 

 A species of general dispersion in elevated and wooded, especially coniferous, regions of the West. 

 S. to New Mexico, and in the White Mts. in Arizona ; in the R. Mts. northerly shading into 

 var. richardsoni. A large cumbrous bird, usually displaying stolidity or indifference to the 

 presence of man, taking to trees when disturbed, and very easily slaughtered. Eggs larger, 

 more elongated, and less heavily colored than those of spruce grouse and ptarmigan ; creamy- 

 buff, finely freckled all over with chocolate-brown, seldom with any large spots : 2.00 X 1.50. 



55S. C. o. rich'ardsoni. (To Sir John Richardson.) Richardson's Dusky Grouse. Size, 

 shape, and whole appearance of the foregoing. Tail rather longer, more nearly even, with 

 broader feathers, having the terminal slate bar reduced or wanting : general color more uni- 

 formly darker, black of throat more extensive. Rocky Mts., northerly, U. S. and northward. 



