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FAMILY TETRAONINjE. 



GROUSE. 

 GENUS TETRAO — LINN. 



GROUSE. 



[Bill short, robust, feathered at the base, covering the nostrils ; head small; 

 body full ; wings short, rounded ; tail of moderate length, rounded — the feathers 

 broad ; tarsi feathered; feet stout, of moderate length ] 



TETRAO UMBELLUS— LINN. 



RUFFED GROUSE. 



Ruffed Grouse, Tetrao umbellus, VVils. Amer. Orri. 



Tetrao umbedus, Bonap. Syn. 



Tetrao umbbllus, Ruffed Grouse, Sw. & Rich. 



Ruffed Grouse, Nutt. Man. 



Ruffud Grouse, Tetrao umbellus, Aud. Orn. Biog. 



Specific Character — Lower portion of tarsi naked ; length of tail 

 six inches and five-eighths, fan-shaped, a broad black band near 

 the end. Adult male, with the head and neck variegated with yel- 

 lowish-red, and grayish-white ; sides of the neck furnished with a 

 tuft of black feathers — a few of the upper ones tipped with dull 

 white — the rest tipped with dark green ; the feathers on the back 

 with a central white spot, surrounded with black, which color is 

 broadly margined with reddish-brown ; all the feathers tipped with 

 ash gray, and the entire plumage of the back minutely spotted with 

 black ; quills brown, their outer webs pale yellowish-red, spotted 

 with dusky ; tail long, fan-shaped — the feathers broad, and beauti- 

 fully marked with transverse bars of black, pale yellowish-red, and 

 grayish-white ; a broad black band near the tips, which are grayish 

 white, finely dotted with dusky ; lower parts yellowish-white, bar- 

 red with brown ; from the nostrils a yellowish-white band, continu- 



