544 THE CAPERCAILZIE OR WOOD GROUSE. 



Family III. 



Tetraonidoe. 



This family, though closely allied to the last, is distinguished 

 by the absence of those naked, carunculated ornaments which 

 the pheasants have on their head and cheeks, also by the hind 

 toe becoming shorter and weaker till lost in the groups which, 

 lead to the Strut hionidce ; the bill is also very short, and curved. 

 Like the last, some are polygamous, others pair. They also have 

 their nest upon the ground, and lay a number of eggs. Their 

 food consists of grain, seeds, insects, roots, tops of heath, 

 and other plants. Some of the genera, as the Tetrao and 

 Lagojms, inhabit mountainous regions, braving the severest arctic 

 winters. Others, as the genera Francolinus, Turnix, Tinamus, 

 &c, are natives of the warmer latitudes of Europe and America ; 

 while the genera Pterocles, Syrrhaptes, &c, are only found on 

 the sandy and rocky deserts of Africa and Asia. We have only 

 three genera represented in Britain — Tetrao, Lagop>us, and 

 Perdix — which means grouse, ptarmigan, and partridge. I 

 shall begin with genus Tetrao, at the head of which stands that 

 splendid bird, the capercailzie — the cock of the woods. 



Genus— TETEAO. (Linn.) Grouse. 

 The Capekcailzie or Wood Grouse. 



Tetrao Urogallus. (Linn.) 



" O, Nature, a' thy shows and forms, 

 To feeling, pensive hearts hae charms ! 

 Whether the summer kindly warms 



Wi' life and light ; 

 Or winter howls in gusty storms 



The lang dark night." — Burns. 



This magnificent bird — as big as a turkey, his feathers 

 resplendent in black, brown, green, and blue — was once 

 plentiful in Scotland ; but its large size and excellent flesh made 

 it so good a mark for destruction that recent ornithologists say 

 it has long been extinct in Britain, and is now only found in 

 Russia, Norway, and Sweden. In his work published in 1833 



