162 



THE COCK OF THE PLAINS. 



Centrocercus urophaslanus SWA INSON. 

 PLATE XVII. 



Cock of the Plains, Lewis and Clark Tetrao urophasianus, 

 onaparte,Conlijiualion,'pl.xyii. Pheasant-tailed grouse, 

 Wilson,Illust. ofZool. pis. xxvi. and xxvii Centrocercus 

 urophasianus, North. Zoo/, ii. p. 353. 



THIS splendid bird is the largest of the American 

 grouse ; and, as far as beauty, size, and rarity are 

 concerned, bears the same rank in the American 

 Fauna with the wood-grouse cr cock of the wood of 

 Europe. He is equally sought after by the hunts- 

 man, and is even now as difficult to procure as that 

 we have just compared him to. But the form and 

 habits are quite distinct. In our once native bird the 

 form is remarkably powerful, the tail rounded and 

 very ample, the habitation, the most extensive fo- 

 rests, delighting to perch on the highest trees. The 

 bird of America inhabits only the uncovered plains, 

 never perches, and the form of the tail is lengthen- 

 ed, the feathers narrowing to a point. This acquisi- 

 tion to the grouse was first noticed in the expedi- 

 tion of Lewis and Clark, who met with it near the 

 fountain of the Missouri, in the heart of the Rocky 



