RASORES : TETRAONID.E. 



239 



covered by a tuft of broad, soft feathers, and the head 

 with a soft crest. 



The Ruffed Grouse, or Partridge, B. umbellus, Steph., 

 of the Eastern United States and westward, is eighteen 



Fig. 126 A. 



Ruffed Grouse, B. umbellus, Steph. 



inches long, and the wing over seven inches ; the color 

 reddish brown or gray above, the back with spots of light- 

 er ; the under parts whitish barred with dull brown ; the 

 feathers of the ruff are black ; the beautiful tail is tipped 



with gray, and has a subterminal bar of black. This bird prefers the borders of forests, 

 open woods, thickets of evergreens and birches, and the vicinity of brooks shaded with 

 alder. Nothing can excel the grace with which it moves upon the ground. It walks 

 with a proud step, elevated head, the ruffs more or less raised, and its exquisitely beauti- 

 ful tail partly spread. It takes wing with the loud whirring which all have heard who 

 have had the pleasure of visiting its favorite resorts. The flight is straight, rather low, 

 and under ordinary circumstances not more than one or two hundred yards at a time. 

 If, when flushed, it alights upon a tree, as is often the case in regions where it has not 

 been much hunted, it will generally be found, if at all, on the side farthest from the pur- 

 suer, and close to the trunk, and standing so still and erect that one can readily mistake it 

 for a stump of a broken limb. 



The Genus Lagopus Ptarmigans has the legs 



