284 Bird Studies. 



The prevailing color above is brown. The pattern is a barring of brown 

 and black, spotted more or less with reddish brown. The " pinnate " tufts of 

 the sides of the neck are each composed of more than ten narrow, stiff black 

 feathers, crossed by reddish brown and buff marks, and routided off at their 

 tips. These feathers overlie a bare surface of skin, capable of being inflated. 

 The rounded tail is short and almost covered by the body feathers above it ; 

 the outside feathers are a third shorter than the middle ones. The throat is 

 buff, shading into the white ground color of the lower parts, which are barred 

 with dusky brown or black. The female is similar to the male, a little smaller, 

 and with the " pinnate " tufts of the neck much reduced, or rudimentary. 

 The birds nest on the ground. They lay from ten to fourteen olive buff 

 eggs, and occasionally these are spotted with reddish brown specks. They 

 are an inch and seven tenths long and an inch and a quarter broad. 



The Black Cock of Europe and Northern Central Asia has been intro- 

 duced into Newfoundland, where it is said to have become naturalized. It is 

 a large bird, about two feet in length, of a general glossy 

 blue black, relieved by a white patch on the wingr and by 



Tttrao tctrix Linn. . •' "^ . ^ J 



the white feathers under the tail. The four outermost 

 feathers of each side of the tail are strongly curved outward, towards their 

 rounded tips. The female is a smaller bird, of tawny brown color, barred 

 and spotted with black. The outer tail feathers have little if any of the 

 characteristics of those of the male bird. 



The Prairie Sharp-tailed Grouse is one of the group of birds known as 



Prairie Chickens and sold annually in our markets with the Prairie Hen 



Prairie Sharp-tailed P''°P'^''- ^^ ^^ rather shorter than that bird, being about 



Grouse. seventeen inches long. The general color above is brown- 



pedioca:tes phasianeiius ish buff, aud this color marked and spotted with black 



campestris Ridgw. i i . i 1 i i* 1 •! • 



closely matches the dry grass surroundmgs that prevail m 

 the regions frequented by the birds. The exposed webs of the larger wing 

 feathers are spotted with white and the shoulders are streaked with the same 

 color. The middle tail feathers are colored much like the back and are about 

 an inch longer than the other feathers of the tail. 



The throat is buff, shading into whitish, which is the prevailing color 

 of the lower parts. The breast is spotted with dusky or black arrow 



