378 Bangs, New Subspecies of the Ruffed Grouse. [july 



A NEW SUBSPECIES OF THE RUFFED GROUSE. 



BY OUTRAM BANGS. 



Some years ago I was accustomed to go shooting every autumn 

 in Nova Scotia, and each season I was more and more impressed 

 by the very dark coloration of the Ruffed Grouse killed there. I 

 therefore made into skins during my last two shooting trips to this 

 province a series of sixteen Grouse. 



I am very sorry to say I did not skin any young individuals 

 but picked out old birds of both sexes, selecting them one or two 

 at a time from our daily bags which were often large. 



Upon comparing specimens the Nova Scotia bird proved to be 

 quite as different from Bonasa unibellus togata (Linn.) as that form 

 is from Bonasa unibellus umbellus (Linn.), and has been described 

 in MS. as a new subspecies for years. The reason it has not 

 until now been published is that Mr. Brewster had in contempla- 

 tion a monograph of the Ruffed Grouse for which he had, for a long 

 time, been gathering material, and the new form was to have 

 appeared in it. This project is now indefinitely postponed and 

 the Nova Scotia Grouse may be known as:— 



Bonasa umbellus thayeri ^ subsp. nov. 



Type, from Digby, Nova Scotia, adult c?", no. 11453, Bangs Coll., Museum 

 of Comparative Zoology. Collected Oct. 9, 1892, by O. Bangs. 



Characters. Similar to Bonasa umbellus togata (Linn.) but general color, 

 of upper parts darker, more dusky or sooty, less grayish ; the whole under 

 parts (except throat) heavily and regularly banded with dusky, the dark 

 bands much blacker and much more boldly contrasted against the ground 

 color — less blended. 



In B. umbellus togata the flanks and sides are sometimes barred as heavily 

 and the bars are as dark in color as in the Nova Scotia form, but this heavy 

 barring never extends to the chest, breast or middle of belly. 



Size and proportions about as in B. umbellus togata except the bill which 

 averages just a little larger. 



B. umbellus thayeri presents two phases of coloration, which are both 



' Named for my esteemed friend and co-worker in ornithology, John E. Thayer. 



