140 TETRAONID^. 



1. Those having the legs feathered to and on the 

 basal membrane of the toes ; and without any ruff on 

 the neck ; which has, however, a bare extensible space. 



2. Those with the legs scarcely feathered to the 

 extreme base of the tarsus, the lower joint of which is 

 bare, with large transverse scuteUse. 



3. Those with legs feathered to the claws. 



4. Those having the lower half of the tarsi bare, with 

 two rows of scutellae anteriorly. 



Tetrao, belonging to the first division, Lagopus 

 forming the third, and Bonasa the fourth, only frequent 

 wooded tracts ; while Cupidonia, which forms the second, 

 inhabits the open prairie : these four genera comprising 

 all that come under notice in the present work. 



The Canada or Spotted Grouse {Tetrao Canadensis) is 

 better known in its own country as the " Spruce Par- 

 tridge :" a glaring misnomer, which its marked charac- 

 teristics render inexcusable in British provinces. 



Though not a scarce bird, it does not exist in any 

 great numbers in any part of the country, nor is it easy 

 to find, even in those districts where it is known to be 

 in tolerable abundance, seeking, as it does, the most 

 tangled and difficult recesses of unfrequented spruce 

 forests and cedar swamps. 



It ranges from the confines of the Northern States 

 to latitude 68°, though never found to the westward of 



