BIRDS OF KANSAS. 223 



A set of seven eggs, collected in the spring of 1882, at Corpus 

 Christi, Texas, measure: 1.15x.92, 1.13x.94, 1.04x.98, 1.20x 

 .95, 1.10x.94, 1.07x89, 1.12x.95. 



SUBFAMILY TETRAONIJS^E. GROUSE. 



At least upper half of tarsus feathered (usually feathered to toes); nasal 

 fossae densely feathered; sides of toes pectinated in winter (the points deciduous 

 in summer). (Ridgway.) 



GENUS BONASA STEPHENS. 



Lower portion of tarsus completely naked; tail nearly as long as wing, fan 

 shaped; sides of neck with a broad tuft or ruff of soft, broad-webbed feathers. 

 (Ridgway.) 



Bonasa umbellus (LINN.). 



RUFFED GROUSE. 

 PLATE XIII. 



A resident in the eastern portion of the State prior to its set- 

 tlement; but, being a bird of the woods, its range was confined 

 to the timber skirting the streams, and, upon the settlement of 

 the same, they quickly disappeared, as the tramping and brows- 

 ing of the cattle during the winters destroyed the undergrowth, 

 their favorite resorts, and left them no longer a hiding place or 

 natural home. Much of the wooded land is now under fence, 

 and where not pastured the growth is dense, and I feel confident 

 that, if introduced and protected, they would soon become a 

 permanent resident in every inviting grove. 



B. 465. R. 473. C. 565. G. 218, 103. U. 300. 



HABITAT. Eastern United States, north to Massachusetts and 

 southern Wisconsin (north of this range the Canadian Ruffed 

 Grouse); west to the edge of the Great Plains; south to Georgia, 

 Tennessee, Arkansas, etc. 



SP. CHAR. "Above, ochraceous brown finely mottled with grayish; the 

 scapulars and wing coverts with pale shaft streaks, the rump and upper tail 

 coverts with medial cordate spots of pale grayish. Tail ochraceous rufous, nar- 

 rowly bordered with black, crossed terminally with a narrow band of pale ash. 

 then a broader one of black, this preceded by another ashy one. Throat and 

 foreneck ochraceous. Lower parts mixed whitish and buff, the latter chiefly be- 

 neath the surface, with broad, transverse bars of dilute brown, these mostly 

 concealed on the abdomen. Lower tail coverts pale ochraceous, each with a 

 terminal deltoid spot of white bordered with dusky. Neck tufts brownish 

 black. Length, 18.00; wing, 7.20; tail, 7.00. Female: Smaller, and with the 

 neck tufts less developed, but colors similar. Young: Brown above and dingy 



