RUFFED GROUSE—PARTRIDGE I4I 
Bonasa umbellus is above, reddish brown or grayish 
brown, varied with black, brown and gray in different 
shades, the scapulars and wing coverts streaked with 
whitish or cream color, the rump and upper tail cov- 
erts with long streaks or spots of grayish or yellowish. 
Tail long and wide, gray or reddish, more or less band- 
ed with paler, each pale band bordered by a narrow, 
irregular blackish edge. A broad sub-terminal band of 
black or dark brown near the end, followed by a nar- 
rower terminal band of grayish. Feathers of the tufts 
on the side of the neck—the ruff—usually broadest 
at the ends, and black in color, sometimes with green- 
ish reflections. Occasionally the ruff, instead of being 
black, is dark brown, or even pale chestnut. The throat 
is pale buff, sometimes dotted with darker. The lower 
parts are whitish or yellowish, barred with dull brown, 
broadest and darkest on the flanks. The lower tail 
coverts are white-tipped. The female is similar to the 
male, but smaller, and with the plumage slightly paler. 
At the same time the plumage often fails to give any 
suggestion of sex. There is a high-pointed crest on 
the head. The lower portion of the tarsus—that is, 
of the foot—is naked. 
This is a general description of the ruffed grouse. 
The typical wmbellus is described as mostly reddish 
above. The sub-species, B. umbellus umbelloides, is 
mostly gray, and has the tail always gray. It is re- 
garded as the Rocky Mountain form. 
B. umbellus togata, the Canada ruffed grouse, is 
