CLlPinoyA CUP ID o. 



Members of tliis jrenus inliiil)it prairie lands or open country, seklnin, if, ever, being fmiml in the woods. Tlie tail U 

 sbort and the wings are long. Tlic sterno-trachealis is large but there are no otlier laryngeal muscles. Tympaniform mem- 

 branes, present but sliort, measuring "25, and the bronchial tubes beneath are connected by a muscle. Os tninsversale, 

 present and supports a semilunar memlirane. Tarsus, completely feathered. Feathers on side of neck, elongated. Head, 

 crested. 



CUPIDONA CUPIDO. 



Prairie Grouse. 

 Cupidona cupido Baird, Birds N. A.; 1858, 628. 



DESCEIPTION. 



Sp. Ch. Form, robust. Size, large. Sternum, stout. Terminal expansion of scapula, large and rounded. Cceca. 

 20 00 long, with the blind end pointed. Tongue, short, thick, fleshy, and triangular in form, with the tip pointed. There 

 is a tuft of Icng, lanceolate feathers on each side of neck, beneath which is a naked space. 



C' lor. Adull i)in/f. Above, dark-brnwn, becoming lighter on wings, barred, excepting on inner webs nf primaries 

 and on tail, with yellowish-red and yelUiwIsh-white. Keneath, white, becoming bufiy on tiiroat. siiles. and Hanks, finely 

 barred, excepting on throat, with dark-brown. Line from gape, passing beneath eye, dark-hruwu, beneath whicli, aluii" 

 cheeks, is a line of spots of the same color. There are concealed bars of chestnut acnjss upper breast. The elongated neck 

 foathers are dark-brown, with yellowisii-white centers which are edged above with yellowisli-red. 



Adult female. Sipiilar to the male but the neck tufts are not as long nor a.s dark and the tail is barred. Iris, bill, and 

 feet, ilark-brown in all stages. Naked sjiace over eye and on neck, orange. 



OBSERVATIONS. 



Specimens vary but little in plumage, occasionally thechestnut barring on the breast will be quite conspicuous. This 

 species api)ears to be subject to a peculiar kind of albinoism, being creamy-white, with the darker markings showing imli.s- 

 tinctly. Known form all others by the short tail and elongated tuft of lanceolate feathers on neck. Distributed, at prrscnt, 

 <m the Western plains, cast of the Rocky Mountains, in favorable localities in the states that border the Mississippi Rivei 

 on the east, south to Louisiana, and occasionally eastward to I'ennsylvania; rare on Xauslion Island. Ma.ssachu.sells. 



DIMENSIONS. 



Average measurements of specimens from the West. Length, 18'7.'j; stretch, 29'00: wing, 8-7r>; tail, I'lS; bill, '70; 

 tarsus, 1-95. Longest .specimen, lO'OO; greatest extent of wing, .30-00; longest wing, iJMlO; tail. 4"2.'); bill, '7.5; tarsus, 

 2 10. Shortest specimen, 17j0; smallest extent of wing, 'JS'OO; shortest wing, B-.IO; tail, -l-OO; bill, ■O.'i: tarsus, l-7'>. 



DESCRII'TION OF NKSTS AND ECCS. 



Nes/s. placed un the grouuil in hollows scratched in the soil, composed of grass, leaves, weeds, or any other convenient 

 material. 



Eiif/s. from eight to fifteen in number, rather oval in form, varying from dirty white to greenish-yellow in color, often 

 dotted finely with reddish-j-ellow. Dimensions from l'i20x I'CO to L30x r71. 



HABITS. 

 Thorc is no doulit but that prior to the settlement of thi.s country and for .some time 

 afier the advent of the Whites, the Prairie Grou.se had an extensive riuige, bt^ing found 

 Ihroughout New Enghmd, the i\Iiddle States, and the western of the Southern States. As 

 these line Grouse are unfortunate enough to l)e excellent eating, they were soon extermi- 

 nated in the more settled districts. Yet they held their own much longer th.-tn one would 

 suppose possible under the circumstances, and in 1834, Audubon says, "On the eastern 

 (h»clivities of our Athmtic coast, the districts in which the Pinnated Grouse are still to be 

 mot with, are some portions of the State of New Jersey, the 'brushy' plains of Long Island, 

 Martini's Vineyard, the P]lizabeth Islands, Mount Desert Island in the State of Maine, and 

 a certain tract of Barreny country in the latter State, lying not far fi-om the famed M.ar's 



Hill." 



