C4 FRANK forester's FIELD SPORTS. 



Next to this fine bird, both in his game quahties and the 

 excellence of his flesh, I note, unhesitatingly, 



THE RUFFED GROUSE. 



Tetrao Umbellus. Linn : Wilson : Audubon. La Gelinotte Hiip- 

 2}ee de Fennsylvanie. Brissot. — The Pheasant, or Partridge. 



"Male, 18.24. 



" Common from Maryland to Labrador, and, in the interior, 

 from the mountainous districts to Canada and the Jashatchewan, 

 Columbian River. Resident. 



" Adult Male. 



" Bill short, robust, slightly arched, rather obtuse ; the base 

 covered by feathers ; upper mandible, with the dorsal outline, 

 straight in the feathered part, convex toward the end, the edgfls 

 overlapping, the tip declinate ; under mandible somewhat bulg- 

 ing toward the tip ; the sides convex. Nostrils concealed among 

 the feathers. Head and neck small. Body bulky. Feet of or- 

 dinary length. Shank feathered, excepting at the lower part in 

 front, where it is scutellate, spurless ; toes scutellate above, pec- 

 tinate on the sides ; claws arched, depressed, obtuse. 



" Plumage compact, glossy. Feathers of head narrow, and 

 elongated into a curved tuft. A large space on the neck desti- 

 tute of feathers, but covered by an erectile ruff of elongated fea- 

 thers, of which the upper are silky, shining, and curved forward at 

 the end, which is very broad and rounded. Wings short, broad, 

 curved, and much rounded. Tail long, ample, rounded, of 

 eighteen feathers. 



" Bill brown color, brownish-black toward the tip. Iris hazel. 

 Feet yellowish-gray. Upper part of the head and wing part 

 of the neck bright yellowish-red. Back rich chesnut, marked 

 with oblong white spots, margined with black. 



" Tail reddish-yellow, barred and minutely mottled with black, 

 and terminated by a broad band of the latter color, betAveen tM^o 

 narrow bands of bluish-white, of which the one is terminal. A 



