374 New Species of' Groiisejrom North America. 



dove. They build their nests of small twigs, leaves, or grass, 

 amid coppices of birch or hazel, in the vicinity of springs or 

 mountain rills. They lay from 13 to 19 eggs, nearly as large 

 as those of the domestic fowl, marked with red specks. Their 

 flight is swift, steady, and peculiarly graceful. When startled, 

 they drop from the branches of the pine-trees, their usual roost- 

 ing-place, to within a few feet of the ground, before they com- 

 mence flying — a circumstance which often deceives the hunter. 

 This trait seems peculiar to the species. In spring, they are 

 seen in great numbers, basking in the sun, on the southern de- 

 clivities of low hills ; and, in winter, in flocks of sixty or eighty, 

 in the vicinity of springs, lakes, or large streams. They are 

 easily destroyed, continuing to sit with apparent tranquillity af- 

 ter several shots have been fired. Their flesh is white and ex- 

 cellent. They feed on the buds of the pine, the catkins of birch, 

 alder, and hazel, and the fruit of the Fragaria and Vacciniuvi. 

 They are very abundant in the sub-alpine regions of the Rocky 

 Mountains, in Lat. 52 deg. N., Long. 115 deg. W., and stillmore 

 numerous in the rocky districts of the Colombia, in Lat. 48 deg. 

 N., Long. 118 deg. W. They are rare on the mountains of the 

 N. W. coast *. 



The third species exhibited was named the smaller Pheasant- 

 tailed Grouse (T. Urophaslanellns). The sexes resemble each 

 other closely in colour, but the male is rather larger than the 

 female, and his tail more fully developed. Their prevailing 

 colour is pale brown, richly blotched and barred with black. 

 The wing-coverts, and the outer webs of the primary wing fea- 

 thers, are marked with many rounded or oblong spots of a pale 

 colour. Their flight is swift, noiseless, and steady. They are 

 shy, and not easily approached by the sportsman. They are 

 found in the same range of country with the larger species first 



" Tetrao Ricliardsonii, as above described, appears to be synonymous with 

 the Tetrao ohscunis of Say, recently figured by Lucien Charles Buonaparte in 

 his American Zoology. The latter name, as prior in date, is probably enti- 

 tied to the preference, although we believe that no copy of Buonaparte's 

 work had reached this country at the time Mr Wilson published the figure 

 of Tetrao Hichardsonii in the 8th Number of his Illustrations of Zoology. 



