Aves. 23 1 



fact, they wear grays, browns, and blended colors resembling 

 grass, weeds, and brush. The turkey is a native American, 

 though bearing a foreign name. Except the turkey, all our 

 native Gallinae belong to the grouse family. 



The quail is widely known as "bob-white." It is very 

 cunning, and holds its own fairly well when properly pro- 

 tected by law. 



The partridge, or ruffed grouse, lives in the woods. On 

 account of its wildness, it persists where native forest still 

 stands. It makes a loud noise by beating its wings rapidly 

 (drumming). 



The prairie hens once abounded on the prairies of 

 the Central states, but are fast disappearing. Even though 

 protected by law eleven months of the year, they seem 

 doomed to extermination. They lack the cunning of the 

 quail, and their size is a disadvantage. The cock has a 

 bare colored spot on each side of the neck. This is inflated 

 while making his booming noise in the mating season, and 

 gives him the appearance of having an orange on each side 

 of the neck. 



The sage grouse (sage hen) is found on the Western 

 plains among the sage brush. Sage hens are very good to 

 eat early in the season, but later are often tainted by eating 

 sage leaves, which makes the flesh bitter. The sage hen 

 is peculiar in lacking a gizzard. 



One of the most interesting of the grouse is the ptarmi- 

 gan. It is a rock grouse. The American species is found 

 in the Rocky Mountains, living on the rocks above timber 

 line. The legs and feet are fully feathered down to the 

 base of the claws. It has in summer a mixed gray and 

 brown color that makes it inconspicuous on lichen-covered 

 rocks. In the winter it turns pure white, and in fall and 

 spring is partly gray and partly white in transition. 



