OEEGON BUFFED GBOUSE 553 



forming a crest; eyelids yellowish; a series of slender, elongated black and 

 brown f eatliers over ear region ; sides of chin scaled with black and buffy white ; 

 middle of chin, and throat, buff; bill horn yellow; rest of upper surface, including 

 wings (except primaries) and tail, richly variegated with reddish bro^v^l, gray, 

 black, and buffy white, the first named color predominating; the pattern includ- 

 ing bars, stripes, and spots of various shapes, the whole subdued in effect by an 

 extensive vermiculation; broad subtermiual band across tail, brownish black; pi"i- 

 mary wing feathers blackish brown, outer webs spotted with buff; lining and 

 under surface of wing chiefly gi-ayish brow^l; band across upper breast, deep 

 reddish brown becoming darker at sides; a shiny black (sometimes partly brown) 

 ruff of soft broad feathers on each side of lower neck, overlapping bend of Aving; 

 feathers of lower breast and rest of under surface, buff, marked with bauds of 

 brown and tipj>ed with white, the whole producing an interruptedly barred appear- 

 ance; feathering on lower part of leg (tarsus), ashy brown; feet (dried) yellow- 

 ish brown and dusky ; females differing from males only in somewhat lesser devel- 

 opment of ruff at sides of neck. Total length (both sexes) "15.50-19.00" 

 inches (394-482 mm.) (Kidg^vay, 1900, p. 197). Males: Folded vnng 6.73-7.52 

 (171-191); bill along culmen 0.58-0.68 (14.7-17.3); tarsus, 1.66-1.79 (42.0-45.4) 

 (nine specimens from California and Vancouver Island). Females: Folded wing 

 7.01-7.29 (178-185); bill along culmen 0.62-0.67 (15.8-17.1); tarsus 1.58-1.73 

 (40.1-44.0) (three specimens from California and Vancouver Island). Juvenile 

 plumage: Top of head chiefly broAvnish black with narrow light brown feather 

 edgings; chin and throat whitish; back, wing coverts and some of tertials, chiefly 

 blackish, with shaft streaks of buffy yellow, and finely variegated with dark cin- 

 namon brown; rump finely barred with dull cinnamon and blackish; tail barred 

 with black, light brown and gray ; primaries blackish brown edged with dull cin- 

 namon; feathers of breast light cinnamon brown with terminal black spots and 

 white shafts; sides and flanks coarsely marked Avith black, buff" and A\iiite ; belly 

 barred Avith blackish broAvn and dull AA'hite ; under tail coverts dull buff ; leg but 

 scantily clothed Avith dull Avhite feathers. Natal lAumage: Top and sides of head 

 bright cinnamon broAvn, darkest above ; eyelids narroAvly, and ear region broadly, 

 marked with black; back chiefly cinnamon brown, darkest along mid-line; under 

 Surface yelloAvish Avhite, AA-ith a buffy suffusion across chest. 



Marks for field identification — Moderately large size (smaller than Sierra 

 or Dusky Grouse), general reddish broAvn coloration, dark band near end of tail, 

 and conspicuous ruff of black or deep broAATi feathers on either side of neck. 



Voice- — (Of eastern subspecies) in adult, a series of vocal clucks and calls; 

 in female Avith young, squeals, much like those of a rabbit (Forbush, 1912, p. 377). 

 There is also a characteristic "drumming" by the male, caused by rapid 

 beating of the wings. 



Nest — On ground, often under a spruce tree or similar shelter; a slight 

 depression in the surface, lined with grasses, leaA'es, needles, and feathers (authors). 



Eggs- — 6 to 13, roundly ovate, measuring in inches, 1.50 to 1.73 by 1.14 to 1.24 

 (in millimeters, 38.0 to 44.0 by 29.0 to 31.5), and averaging 1.62 by 1.20 (41.0 by 

 30.5) ; ground-color A'arying from milky white to pinkish buff; some immaculate, 

 but usually marked rather sparingly though uniformly Avith small romided dots 

 ranging in color from reddish broAvn to pale drab (Bendire, 1892, pp. 63, 69, refer- 

 ring to the several races of Euffed Grouse). 



General distribution — Of the Kuffed Grouse and its A-arious subspecies: The 

 wooded regions of Alaska and Canada south to California, Colorado, Kansas, 

 Tennessee, and, in the Alleghenies, to Georgia ; of the Oregon Euffed Grouse 

 (sabini) : Coast ranges from Vancouver Island to Humboldt County, California 

 (modified from A. O. U. Check-list, 1910, pp. 139, 140). 



