ONTARIO. 

 SUBFAMILY TETRAONIN^E. GROUSE. 



GENUS DENDRAGAPUS ELLIOT. 



SUBGENUS DENDRAGAPUS. 



DENDRAGAPUS OBSCURUS RICHARDSONII (SAB.). 

 120. Richardson's Grouse. 297 b. 



Adult-male : Back and wings blackish-brown crossed with wavy lines of 

 slaty-gray, mixed with yellowish-brown on the scapulars. Long feathers of 

 the sides tipped with white, under-parts light slate-color, mixed with white 

 on the lower parts. Cheeks black ; chin and throat speckled with black 

 and white feathers on the sides of the neck slightly enlarged, covering a rudi- 

 mentary air sack. Tail brownish -black veined and marbled with gray, and 

 having a broad terminal band of the same color. Female smaller, more 

 varied and generally lighter in color, but having the under-parts and bar at 

 the end of the tail slate-gray as in the male. Length, 20 to 22 inches ; wing, 

 9 to 10 ; tail, 7. 



HAB. Rocky Mountains, from Central Montana northward into British 

 America. 



Eggs, creamy-buff, freckled all over with chocolate-brown. 



For a notice of the occurrence of this species in Ontario, I 

 am indebted to C. J. Bampton, of Sault St. Marie, who has 

 frequently seen it brought into market at that place. 



It bears a strong resemblance to the Dusky Grouse (Den- 

 dragapus Obscurus (Say.), of which it is regarded as the 

 Northern form. The Dusky Grouse is found chiefly on the 

 west coast as far south as New Mexico and the White Moun- 

 tains of Arizona. In the Rocky mountains toward the north, 

 it gradually assumes the peculiarities of the present species ; 

 but many intermediate individuals are found which cannot 

 positively be said to belong more to the one than to the other. 



In Richardsonii, the tail feathers are longer and broader 

 than in Obscurus. The slate-colored bar at the end is smaller, 

 or wanting, and the general colors darker, specially so on the 

 throat. 



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