V i°Sg< X l Shufeldt on a Hybrid Grouse. 28 1 



NOTES ON THE TRUNK SKELETON OF A 

 HYBRID GROUSE. 



BY R. W. SHUFELDT. 



On the 15th of last January (1893), Mr. William Brewster 

 purchased in the markets of Cambridge, Mass., a specimen in 

 the flesh of a hybrid Grouse. He prepared the skin of it for his 

 private collection, and placed the body of the bird in alcohol. 

 Writing me from Cambridge upon the 13th of the following 

 month, he offered me the latter for anatomical investigation, 

 saying at the same time that, as far as he could ascertain, the 

 bird "lacked wholly either testes or ovary." During the latter 

 part of February this spirit specimen came into my possession, 

 and in the letter of transmittal Mr. Brewster further said : "The 

 market-man could tell me nothing as to where it had come from, 

 save that he received it with many other Grouse (all 

 Tympa.7iuchus americanus) from a wholesale dealer in 

 Boston." 



"It is nearly intermediate in respect to color, markings, and 

 feather development between T. americanus and Pcdioccctes p. 

 campcstris. It has the neck tufts (only about one inch long, 

 however) of the former and the elongated central tail-feathers of 

 the latter. It had evidently been snared, and killed by wringing 

 the neck." I re-examined the specimen for sex characters (but 

 without a lens, however) and utterly failed to find any trace of 

 generative organs whatever. In April, through the kindness of 

 Mr. True of the National Museum, the alcoholic, which had 

 already been partially skeletonized by myself, was passed into 

 the hands of Mr. F. A. Lucas, to be completed by one of his 

 workmen. Thanks to them, the cleaned bones now lie before 

 me for description. These consist of the femora, the shoulder- 

 girdle (complete), the sternum, the ribs (which had all been 

 cut in two in order to examine for sex characters) , the cervico- 

 dorsal vertebras, the pelvis, and two (proximal ones) coccygeal 

 vertebra;. 

 36 



