142 TETRAONID^E. 



There is no doubt, however, of the fact that it evinces 

 very little fear of the gun. 



In appearance this is a very handsome bird, the general 

 colour above being a deep brown, beautifully barred with 

 black and dark grey; the throat and head are black, 

 with a scarlet semicircle over the eye, and a small white 

 mark near the base of the bill, which is black and rather 

 slender. The breast and sides are marked with large 

 white spots, and there are a few on the tail-coverts ; the 

 tail, which consists of sixteen feathers, and is about six 

 inches long, is black, slightly mottled with dull brown 

 and tipped with dark orange. 



The female has a greater predominance of white be- 

 neath and yellowish brown above ; has little or no black 

 on the head or upper parts, and the feathers on the legs 

 are of a lighter colour than in the male ; though she 

 has also, contrary to a very common opinion, the same 

 scarlet space over the eye. 



They breed far north, up in the Hudson's Bay 

 country, and return to Canada in the winter. The 

 nest, which is formed on the ground, is most carefully 

 concealed among branches and long grass and is rarely 

 found, whence it is that the eggs have been so variously 

 described by different writers. According to a paper 

 in the " Canadian Naturalist," they appear to be " white, 

 spotted with black and yellow." 



