580 SYSTEMATIC SYNOPSIS. — GALLINJR— ALECTOBOPODES 



A mere variety, only recognizable when fully <l('vel()ped ; many intermediate specimens cannot 

 be ftiirly referred to one rather than the other. 



559. C. o. fuligino'sa. (Lat. fuUginosa, sooty.) Sooty Grouse. With the broad slate tail- 

 l)ar of obscura proper, but colors darker than in richardsoni even. Above, blackish, minutely 

 freckled with gray and rusty-brown ; below, dark plumbeous. The hen is more different, with 

 prevailing rich rusty and chestnut-brown markings. Northwest coast mountains, Oregon to 

 Sitka. 



205. CENTROCER'CUS. (Gr. Kevrpov, Tcentron, a spine, prickle; KepKos, kerkos, tail.) Sage 

 Grouse. Spine-tail Grouse. Of great size. Tail very long, equalling or exceeding the 

 wings, of 20 stiffened, narrow, acuminate feathers, much graduated in length. Neck suscejit- 

 ible of enormous distension by means of air-sacs covered with naked livid skin — not regularly 

 hemispherical and lateral like those of Cupidonia, but forming a great protuberance in front of 

 irregular contour; surmounted by a fringe of hair-like filaments, several inches long, springing 

 fi-om a mass of erect white feathers ; covered below with a solid set of sharp white horny 

 feathers, like fish-scales. (The affair is not easy to describe in few words, especially as it is 

 constantly changing with the wear of the feathers, and is only fully exhibited by the cock 

 during the amours. The anatomical arrangement for inflation is only a special exhibition of 

 the air-sacs of other genera, as Cupidonia atid Pedioecetes ; the peculiarities of the feathers 

 are the inherited results of habitual attrition, the birds rubbing the breast against the 

 ground in their love-spasms ; and, as said, the state of the parts is always changing with the 

 wear of the feathers. This accounts for the vague or conflicting statements of authors.) 

 Tarsus feathered to the toes. Digestive system remarkable for the slight muscularity of the 

 gizzard, which is rather a membranous paunch than a grist-mill ; the bird browses rather than 

 scratches for a living, feeding on wormwood and also extensively on insects. Sexes similar in 

 color, unlike in size and to some extent in form. One prairie species, perfectly teiTestrial. 



560. C. urophasia'nus. (Gr. ovpd, oura, tail ; (fiaa-iavos, phasianos, a pheasant.) Sage Cock. 

 Sage Hen. Cock of the Plains. Largest of American Grouse. Full grown cock 2-2^- 

 feet long ; extent of wings 3 feet or more ; wing and tail about a foot ; weight upwards of 4 

 pounds. Hen a third smaller. Above, varied with black, gray, brown and buff; below, 

 chiefly white, with a large squarish black area on the belly. To describe the peculiar neck- 

 feathering of the old cock more particularly : On each side is a patch of feathers, meeting in 

 front, with extremely stiff bases, prolonged into hair-like filaments some three inches in length ; 

 with the wearing away of these feathers in the peculiar actions of the bird in pairing-time, 

 their hard horny bases are left, forming the "fish-scales" above said. In front of these 

 peculiar feathers is the naked tympanum, capable of enormous inflation under amatory excite- 

 ment. Above them is a tuft of down-feathers, covered with a set of long soft filamentous 

 plumes corresponding to the ruff of Bonasa. Many breast feathers resemble the scaly ones of 

 the neck, and are commonly found worn to a bristly "thread-bare" state. Scaly bases of the 

 feathers soiled white ; the tliready ends blackish ; the fluffy feathers snowy- white, like wool, 

 the longer overlying filamentous plumes glossy black. Chin and throat blackish, speckled with 

 white ends of the feathers, usually presenting a definite white half-collar. Lining of wings 

 white. Hen : Length about 20 inches; wing 10 inches ; tail 7 or 8, of same general character 

 as the cock's, but softer, shorter, less cuneate, with more rapidly tapering feathers. A small 

 tympanam, but no obviously peculiar feathers on neck. Coloration quite like that of the cock. 

 Pullet : No peculiar neck-feathers ; tail beginning to show its special form ; general coloration 

 of the hen. Before the September moult, all the feathers of the upper parts with sharp 

 white hammer-headed shaft lines, and circular spotting of the feathers of the breast. Sooty 

 belly-patch showing with the first feathering. Chick in down altogether different from the 

 dingy yellow chick of Pedioecetes ; below grayish-white, above gray-brown mottled with blaclv ; 

 bilT black. This remarkable bird, quite a Roland for the Capercaillie's Oliver, inhabits the 



