20 FEATHERED GAME 
met across the forebreast as in the males. It 
has been stated that the bronze ruff is the dis- 
tinguishing mark of the hen, but my own obser- 
vation would indicate that, in general, the red 
bird often has a bronze ruff, and the black or 
purplish ruff is found on the gray bird without 
regard to sex. It may be that the bird of three 
or four years of age is more likely to sport the 
dark ruffles, but I am not prepared to state it 
for a fact. The beautiful fan-like tail is finely 
barred with black on a gray or red-brown 
ground, with a broad subterminal band of black, 
each feather ending with an ashy gray tip. 
In the female the subterminal bar across the 
tail feathers is usually broken, or at least much 
less noticeable on the central pair, and while not 
an invariable rule, it is, with the interruption 
of the ruffle feathers across the breast, a pretty 
safe mark for distinguishing the sexes. How 
far these distinctions may hold in the typical 
bird I know not. My experience has been al- 
most entirely with the northern bird, togata, 
which is surely not the least worthy member of 
the family. 
The male bird will average three or four 
ounces heavier than the female, running from 
