TKTRAONID.K — TIIIC GUOUSE, ETC. 11 



The propriety t)f iiicliKliu'i' this species iu the fauiiii of Illinois, 

 is exceeding-lv iloiibtful. Mr. Kennieott gave it in his list of tlie 

 birds of Cook ronnty, with the i-eiuavk that it was "sometimes 

 found in the timber along Lake Miehifian"; but Mr. Nelson 

 thinks that this note was based "'upon the capture of two 

 specimens, December, 184G, near Racine, [Wisconsin] as noted 

 by Dr. Hoy (Wis. Agr. Rep., 1852)." 



Gents TYMPANUCHUS Glogeu. 



Tympnnuchns Gloger, Hantll). Viig. Duutschl.. ISI2. Type, Tetrao cuiiido Linn. 

 Oupidonia Reich. Av. Syst. Nat. 1850, p. xxix. Same ty|)i>. 



Gen. Ch.ib. Tail of eighteen feathers, short, half the length of wings; thR feathers 

 stiffened and more or less graduated. Bare inflatable air-sae of the neck concealed by a 

 tuft of long, stilT, lanceolate feathers ; an inconspicuous crest on the vertex. Tarsi feathered 

 only to near the base, the lower joint scutellate. Culmen between the nasal fossa; scarcely 

 one third the whole length. 



The genus, so far as known, is «mtirely peculiar to North 

 America, where there are three species, all confined to the eastern 

 water-shed of the United States. The two occurring west of the 

 Alleghanies may be distinguished as follows: 



Common Chabacterb. Ground-color above yellowish brown, tinged with grayish and 

 reddish; beneath white; whole upper and lower parts variegated with transverse bauds,— 

 those beneath regular, broad, sharply defined, and plain grayish brown, or dusky, those 

 above more broken, broader, and deep black. Head bufl', with a broad vertical stripe, a 

 broad one beneath the eye from bill to ears, and a patch on lower side of auriculars. brown- 

 ish black. 



T, americanss. Tarsi clothed with long hair-like feathers, the bare posterior face 

 entirely hidden. Dark bars above, .30 or more in width, deep black: those beneath, about 

 .20 wide, and dark brown. Top of head nearly uniformly blackish; face-stripes dusky- 

 black. Bill. .40 deep, .50 loni;; wing, ii.nu. llah. Prairies of the Mississippi Talley; south 

 to Louisiana and eastern Tfxas. 



T, pallidioinctos. Tarsi clothed with short feathers, the bare posterior face conspicu- 

 ously exposed. Uark bars above less than .20 in width, dark grayish brown; those beneath 

 about .10 wide, and pale grayish brown. Top of head with only a .slight spotting of black- 

 ish; face-markings reddish brown. Bill, .35 deep, ..'io long, from nostril: wing, S.30. llah. 

 Southwestern prairies (miildle and western Texas, etc.). 



Tympanuchus americanus (Keich.) 



PEAISrE HEN. 

 Popular synonynu, Prairie Chicken; Chicken (in prairie districts): Pinnated Grouse. 

 Tetrao cuitido Wii,s. Am. Orn. iii, 1811. 101, pi. 27 (nee Linn.)— NuTT. Man. I, 1832. (m — 

 AUD. Orn. Biog. il, 1834. 490; v, 18:». 569. pi. 186; Synop. 1839. 204 ; B. Am. v, 1842, 23, pi. 

 2-Jti. 

 Oupidonia ciipido Baibd, B. N. Am. 1S38. G28;. Cat. N. Am. B. 1859, No. 4iU.— CoUKS, Key, 

 1872, 234; Check List-, 1X74, No. ;184: 2(1 ed. 18.S2. No. 6ict; B. N. W. 1874. U'.l.-B. B. & It. 

 Hist. N. Am. B. Iii. 1X71, im, pi. lil, llgs. 1. 7.-RlDOW. Nom. N. Am. B. IxSl, No.. 177. 

 Oupidonia americanuH Reich. Syst. Av. 1852, p. xxix. 

 Tympanuchiiii americanus RiDow. Auk. Jan. 1880. 13;); Man. N. Am. B. 18x7, 203.— A. O. 

 U. Check List, 1886. No. 305. 

 Oupidonia pinnata Bbbwster, Auk. II, ,Tnn. I88.'i, 82. ■ 



