THE GROUSE SUBFAMILY 



[ORDEK : Galliformes. FAMILY : Phasianidce. SUBFAMILY : Tetraonince] 

 PRELIMINARY CLASSIFIED NOTES 



[F. C. B. JOUBDAIN. W. P. PYCRAFT. A. L. THOMSON] 



CAPERCAILLiIE [Tetrdo urog&llus Linnaeus. Caper, cock of the woods, 

 capercailzie, wood-grouse. French, coq de bruyere ; German, Auerhahn ($), 

 Auerhuhn ( $ ) ; Italian, gallo cedrone}. 



I. Description. The capercaillie may be distinguished at once by its 

 great size and the rounded shape of the tail. There is no marked seasonal change 

 of coloration, but the sexes differ conspicuously. (PI. 136.) Length, male 35 in. 

 [889 mm.], female 25 in. [635 mm.]. The male has the head, hind-neck, inter- 

 scapulars, and lower back black, powdered and freckled with grey, the scapulars 

 and wing-coverts reddish brown, freckled with black. The primaries and their 

 coverts are black, but the middle primaries have a patch of white at the base of 

 the outer web, while the secondaries are reddish brown and tipped with white. 

 The tail is black, with an irregularly marbled terminal band of white ; the greater 

 coverts black, tipped white. The feathers of the throat are black, and elongated* ; 

 forming a " beard." Across the chest runs a broad band of dark metallic green, 

 while the breast and abdomen are black, the feathers of the latter region more 

 or less tipped with white ; the flank feathers are grey, and white tipped. The 

 beak is of a yellowish white. Above the eye is a fleshy " wattle " of vermilion, 

 which becomes much swollen in spring. The iris is dark brown. The female 

 can readily be distinguished from the grey-hen by the rounded form of the 

 tail, which is traversed by broad black bars, the terminal bar being the widest, 

 the triangular rufous patch at the base of the neck, and the white-tipped major 

 coverts. The general coloration is of a rufous buff barred with black, but black 

 predominates on the back, reducing the brown area on each feather to a narrow 

 terminal band. The male in its first autumn differs from the adult in its smaller 

 size and the absence of the white terminal tail band. The juvenile plumage, 

 VOL. IV. A 



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