THE GROUSE. 



THE RUFFED GROUSE. 273 



OF THE GROUSE IN GENERAL. 



THE Grouse have strong, convex bills ; and some of the species have 

 a naked scarlet skin above each eye. The flesh of all the species ia 

 brown, but is excellent food. 



The birds of this tribe which are known in Great Britain, are the 

 different species of Grouse, 

 Partridges, and Quails. Of 

 these, the Grouse are in- 

 habitants chiefly of bleak 

 and mountainous tracts of 

 country. To defend them 

 from the effects of cold, 

 their legs are feathered 

 down to the toes. The 

 nostrils are small, and are 

 hidden under the feathers. 

 Their legs are stout, and 

 the tail generally long. 

 Partridges and Quails in 

 habit the warmer and more cultivated parts of the country. Their 

 tail is short, and their nostrils are covered with; a hard prominent 



THE RUFFED GROUSE. 



The size of this bird is between that of a Pheasant and Partridge. 

 The bill is brownish. The head is crested; and as well as all the 

 upper parts, is variegated with different tints of brown mixed with 

 black. The feathers on the neck are long and loose; and may be 

 urected at pleasure, like those of the cock. The throat and the fore 

 Dart of the neck are orange brown; and the rest of the under parts 

 ire yellowish white, having a few curved marks on the brea>t and 

 sides. The tail consists of eighteen feathers, all of which are crossed 

 with narrow bars of black, and with one broad band of the same near 

 the end. The legs are covered to the toes (which are flesh-colored, 

 and pectinated on the sides) with whitish hairs. 



This beautiful species of Grouse, known by the n?*no of Pheasant 

 in the Middle and Western States, and by that of Partridge in New 

 England, is found to inhabit the continent from Hudson's Bay and 

 the parallel of 56 to Georgia, but are most abundant in the North- 

 ern and Middle States, where they often prefer the most elevated 

 and wooded districts ; and at the south they affect the mountainous 

 ranges of valleys which border upon, or lie within the chains of the 

 Alleghanies. They are also prevalent in the Western States a3 far as 

 the line of the State of Mississippi, and though not found on the 

 great western plains they appear in the forests of the Rocky Moun- 

 tains, and follow the Columbia nearly to the Pacific. 



