130 



GROUSE. 



BY the word Grouse, we, in general language, are 

 most apt to associate our ideas with the common 

 Muirfovvl. But in the technical terms of Ornitho- 

 logy, the generic name Grouse and Tetrao is re- 

 stricted to those bearing the form of the European 

 wood-grouse, Dusky grouse of America, &c. They 

 are the largest birds of the family, of a very round 

 and powerful form, and frequent heathy forests in 

 preference to the wild and open muir, perch and of- 

 ten roost on trees, where young shoots and tender 

 bark also supply them with food ; and although the 

 legs are plumed with short feathers, the toes are 

 naked. The tail is composed of broad feathers and 

 is proportionally long and rounded. They are most- 

 ly polygamous, and the females and young differ 

 considerably from the males, the plumage of the for- 

 mer being shades of brown and tawny, with black 

 bars and markings, the colours of the latter distri- 

 buted in broad masses of black, glossy green or steel- 

 blue, and deep brown. They inhabit North Ame- 

 rica and Europe, those of the latter country extend- 

 ing into Northern Asia. 



