2g6 GROUSE. 



of the back are lancet-shaped and of intense metallic purple. The wings and 

 general plumage are steel-blue, with a white band across the lower part of the 

 back; the tail is rufous brown. As is the rule with Gallinaceous birds gene- 

 rally, the female differs ver)- much in colour from her mate, being of a dull 

 brown dashed with yellowish grey, and having a white throat. The crest upon 

 her head is comparatively of trifling cRmcnsions, while the plume upon the 

 head of her mate consists of feathers having long, slender shafts, and spread- 

 ing into a spatulate form at the extremities. 



FAMILY IV. 

 THE GROUSE. TETRAONID.^. 



General Characteristics. — Bill more or less long, broad at the base, and the sides 

 compressed, with the culmen arched to the tip, which is obtuse ; the nostrils basal, 

 lateral, sometimes covered with feathers, or protected with a naked hard scale ; the 

 wings short and rounded ; the tail more or less lengthened and rounded ; the tarsi 

 strong, sometimes clothed with plumes, or naked and scutellated; the hind toe 

 moderate and elevated. 



The birds of this family are generally of smaller size than those 

 of the precedinc^ group, and far less striking, either for the ele- 

 gance of their form or the brilliancy of their colour. They are 

 very generally distributed over the surface of the globe, but the 

 typical genera of the family inhabit the forests and heaths of 

 mountainous countries. Their food consists of fruits, seeds, and 

 the young shoots of plants and trees, and occasionally of worms 

 and insects. Some of them are polygamous, but many pair ; and, 

 in the latter case at least, both the males and females assist in 

 rearing their young. 



The members of this family are rare, but not unrepresented, in 

 Australia and in South America. A few species are polygamous, 

 the males at dawn seeking soine eminence, and attracting the 

 females by their continued calls ; but by far the greater number 

 are monogamous and regularly pair. In the latter case the male 

 remains near his consort during incubation, and both sedulously 

 attend upon and defend their young, which keep together in 

 coveys until the warmth of the following spring excites new 

 desires and causes their separation. All breed upon the ground, 

 making scarcely any nest, and, with a few exceptions, they lay a 

 large number of eggs. The cry of most of these birds is harsh ; 

 in a few, deep and hoarse. It is uttered only in the breeding 



