142 AMERICAN GAME BIRD SHOOTING 
mostly grayish, and the tail is usually gray, but some- 
times tinged with reddish. 
B. umbellus sabini is dark reddish, with little or no 
gray. This is the northwest coast form, found in the 
region of great precipitation, and by many is consid- 
ered the most beautiful of the ruffed grouse. 
The descriptions of these sub-species do not always 
give a very clear idea of the grouse of the regions the 
various forms are supposed to inhabit. The center of 
such a region, no doubt, will be occupied by birds of 
the typical form. On the border lines, however, where 
the sub-species tend to meet, individuals may some- 
times be found that are typical of some taken thousands 
of miles away. 
The length of the ruffed grouse varies from 16 to 
19 inches. The wing measures from 7 to 7% inches, 
and the tail from 514 to 7 inches. The extent of wing 
varies from 22 to 25 inches, and the bird commonly 
weighs from 21 or 22 up to about 30 ounces. Grouse 
are often reported to weigh 2% or 2% pounds; but it 
may be doubted if birds so heavy are ever found. 
The ruffed grouse is the best known and most highly 
esteemed of the game birds of the North, and in Can- 
ada, New England, northern New York, Pennsylvania, 
Michigan and Wisconsin it 1s now the most important 
of the upland birds. 
In the South the bird is called “pheasant,” and in 
the North, especially in the Northeast, “partridge’”— 
both misnomers, since it is neither. In parts of Canada 
