TETRAOXID J<: — THE aROUSE. 4;5<) 



round envh otlier in slow waltzing- time, always niaintaininu; tlio name atti- 

 tude, Imt neviu- .stvikiuji; at each otlicr. Soiuetinu's llic pace increusud, and 

 (tiio imrsuod the; otlicr until tlio latter faced alxiut. Utiiers jumped ahout 

 two feet in the air until out of breath, and then strutted ahout in a peculiar 

 manner; and otlu'rs went nuirehiug aliout with tails and heads as high u[) 

 as they could get thenr. 



Captain lUakiston states that on tlu! Saskatchewan this species was very 

 generally distril)uted throughout the interior. Ho met with it Just beh)W 

 the forks of the Saskateiicwan, and traced it to the western base of the 

 liocky Mountains, lie found it lireeding at I'ort Carlton. He regards the.se 

 birds as of i)olygani(ms habits. In the fall they are found in families, in 

 the semi-wooded country bordering on the ]irairies. They ]iereh on trees, 

 fre(iuently at the \^>\y to)), and liieircro])S are found stulfed out with berries. 

 These are chiefly the fruit of tiie bcarlierry, the ground juniper, the snow- 

 berry, the small ])raii'ie ro.ses, the liull'alo-bcrry, and several kinds of limls. 

 They have also been known to feed on caterpillars and other insects l)aked 

 and crisped by jirairie lives. (,'aptain Hlakiston was also an eyewitness 

 of one of the singular love-])erforni.ances of tliese birds, known as dances. 

 His account of it, which is very full, is almost exactly in correspondence 

 with the account referred to as given by Mr. Lord. 



Mr. Itidgway met with this Grouse at one locality only, encountering them 

 late in Sejitemberin the Up])er Humlwldt Valley. There it was found incon- 

 siderable nundiers in the rye-grass meadows on the foot-slopes of the Clover 

 Mountains. They were stailled from the ground, where they were hidden in 

 the grass, and when surprised fre(iueutly took refuge in the willow-thickets 

 along the streams near by. Their ilcsh was ibund to be most excellent. 



The eggs of this sjtecies vary considerably in size, but average about 1.80 

 imilies in length and l.:>0 in bn^adth. They are oval in shape, slightly 

 pointed at one end. Tlieir grouml varies from a light clay to a dark rusty- 

 bri.wn, generally ))lain, but Imiuontly speckled mimitcly with fine dottiugs 

 of a darker brown. 



Genus CUPIDONIA, Unirur.MiArn. 



Cupidonia, Reiciiknu.v.ii, Av. Sy>t. Nat. 18.^)0, j.. .xxix. (Type, T,h;u, ci,/wln, I,.) 



Okn. Cii.Mi. Tiiil of ei,L;liti'(Mi l'catlii.'r.s. .xliort, liiiH' llic Iciijrlhcm'il wiiij^s; tho luatlicis 

 stim-nud and iiioro or less gnuluatfil. Uaie iiillataljlL' air-san of tlio iicdc concealed l)y a 

 tiit't of lonjr, .■;titr lanceolate feathcr-i ; an incons|)icM(ms cicst on tin; vertex. Taivi 

 feathered only (o neaf the ba.^e. the lower joint .scntellat.'. ("nlnien lielween the nasal 

 fus.su .scarcely one ihii'd the total lenu'lh. 



This genus, as far as known, is entirely i)eculiar to North America, where 

 but one siiecies, M'ith two races, is known. 



