564. 
584 SYSTEMATIC SYNOPSIS. — GALLINA — ALECTOROPODES. 
or 
in open country, from the Atlantic to the Eastern foot-hills of the R. Mts., in some latitudes, 
and now abounds on the prairies, from Illinois and Wisconsin, to Middle Kansas at least, if not 
found on the dryer plains westward. Its usual range includes Illinois, Iowa, Missouri, Eastern 
half of Minnesota, Southeastern Dakota, Middle and Eastern Kansas and Nebraska, Arkansas, 
and Eastern Texas. It is creeping westward 
with the grain fields. Ten years ago it mixed | 
with the sharp-tails about St. Paul’s, Minne- 
sota, and up the Missouri to beyond Sioux 
City. The line of railroad is a favorite high- 
way for the birds. It has been almost ex- 
tirpated in the Middle and Eastern States, 
though it still occurs sparingly in isolated 
localities in New York, New Jersey, Penn- 
sylvania, Long Island, Nantucket, and Mar- 
tha’s Vineyard, ete. Its abundance, and the 
excellence of its flesh, render it an object of 
Fic. 401. —Head of Ruffed Grouse, nat. size. (Ad commercial importance. Though there may 
ole te) be little probability of its extinction, legisla- 
tion against its wanton or ill-timed destruction is a measure of obvious propriety. Eggs 
averaging shorter, rounder, and smaller than those of the sharp-tail; pale greenish—-gray, with 
sometimes a glaucous bloom, usually unmarked, sometimes very minutely dotted with brown 
C. ¢. pallidicine’/ta. (Lat. pallidus, pale; cinctus, begirt.) PALE PINNATED GROUSE. 
Above, the dark markings not in excess of the lighter markings, and rather brown than black ; 
below, the dark bars very pale and narrow. ‘Tarsi scant feathered, exposing the bare strip 
behind. Southwestern prairies; a local race, from warmer and dryer regions. 
BONA’SA. (Gr. Bévacos, 
Lat. bonasus, a bison: the 
“drumming” of the bird 
being likened to the bel- 
lowing of a bull.) RuFFED 
Grouse. Head with a 
full soft crest. Neck on 
each side with a tuft of 
numerous (15-30) broad 
soft glossy-black feathers, 
covering the rudimentary 
tympanum. Tail about as 
long as the wings, amply 
rounded or fan-shaped, nor- 
mally of 18 soft broad 
feathers, with truncate 
ends. Tarsi scantfeath- nes 
ered, naked below, with Sea = ea c 
two or three rows of scu- tg a Moo 
tella in front. Plumage of 
blended and varied colors ; Fic. 402. — Ruffed Grouse. (From Lewis.) 
sexes alike. Woodland species, more or less arboreal, of common occurrence in suitable places. 
Analysis of Varieties. 
Brown, of mixed and varied shades of reddish and gray. Eastern and Northern. . . . . . wmbella 565 
Pale; slaty-gray the prevailing shade. Rocky Mountain region . ....... =. . . umbelloides 566 
Dark; chestnut-brown the prevailing shade. Pacific Coastregion .......- +. . sabinii S67 
