TETUAON I D.E — THE GROUSE. 



441 



Cupiitoiiia rupifttj. 



whitish spots. Top nf licad rusty-lirowii witli n lilack vi-rtical ami a (hisky nnri(.'iilar 

 patcli. Lower parts yellowish-whiti', with iri-cfrulurly dofiiicd, transverse, grayish-ln-owii 



broad liars; anteriorly 



more sp()tt(Ml, the jii<,'nluni -^^^^^ Va """^^ii- 170't* 



tinired with brown. 



Chkk (2."),!)89, Rock- 

 ford, 111.). Bright lenion- 

 buir, lingnd on sides and 

 jiiguhiui with reddish ; 

 upper parts nnicli washed 

 with rusty. A narrow 

 Burieulnr streak, blotches 

 on the vertex and occiput, 

 n stripe across the shoul- 

 der, and blotuhe.s down 

 the middlo of tlie back 

 and rump, doej) bla(,-k. 



Hau. T'rniries of the Mis- 

 sissippi Valley, from Lou- 

 isiana, northward. East 

 to Poeono ^[onntains, 

 Pennsylvania, Formerly 

 alou^ the eastern coast of 

 the United States from Long Island to Cape Cod, or farther. A few still left, on 

 Naushon (?) and Martha's Vinej'ard. 



A pair from Calcasieu Pass, Louisiana, most resemble Illinois specimens, 

 but are smaller (winj;, 8.60, instead of 'J.OO), and there is rather uku'o reddish, 

 with less blaciv, in the plumage, 



Habits. The i'innated Grou.se, more generally known tiirough tlu; country 

 as the I'rairie Chicken or Prairie Hen, once occurred as far to tiui east as 

 Massachusetts, a few still remaining on the island of Martha's Vineyard, 



and where it was, in 

 the early settlement of 

 the country, a very 

 abundant bird ; and to 

 tlie soiitliwe.st to Texas 

 and throughout the 

 Indian Territory, wliere 

 it ap])ei)r.s to be extend- 

 ing with the areas de- 

 veloped by civilization. 

 While at the East this 

 l)ird has almost entirely 

 disappefireil, in consetiuence of the increase of poindation, and except here 

 and there in a few small ami distant districts has disa]ipeared from the 

 Middle and Eastern States, at the "West and Soutliwest it lia.' greatly 

 extf,ndeil its distribution, api)eariiig in considerable mimbers, and constantly 

 (•or,, ni. 56 



Cupittonia citpido. 



