TETRAO URALENSIS. 



(URAL CAPERCAILLIE.) 



"Tetrao urogallus, var. uralensis, Severtz. & Menzb.," Nazaroff, Bull. Mosc. lxii. part 2, 



p. 365 (1886, desc. null.). 

 Tetrao urogallus, var. uralensis, Menzbier, Ibis, 1887, p. 303. 

 Tetrao uralensis, Menzb., Ogilvie Grant, Cat. B. Brit. Mus. xxii. p. 65 (1895). 



Figura nulla. 



^ ad. T. urogallo similis, sed ubique pallidior et magis cinereo, cauda conspicue albo notata, et abdomine albo 

 lateraliter vix nigro notato. 



? ad. T. urogallo similis, sed conspicue pallidior, corporis plumis supra conspicue albo marginatis : abdomine 

 albo vix nigro et rufescenti-aurantiaco notato. 



Adult Male (Leadenhall Market, February 3rd). Upper parts very much paler and greyer than in 

 T. urogallus ; on the wings there is less reddish brown, and it is lighter in shade ; tail-coverts broadly 

 tipped with white; tail-feathers conspicuously marked with white, and not altogether black as in 

 T. urogallus; abdomen white, slightly marked on the sides and upper part with blackish; under tail- 

 coverts black at the base, and broadly margined and tipped with pure white; feathers on the legs 

 'white, but slightly marked with greyish. Total length about 35 inches, culmen 2 - 4, wing 15-5, 

 tail 12'25, tarsus 3"2. 



Adult Female (Werchnevralsk, December). Differs from the female of T. urogallus in being much paler, 

 the feathers on the upper parts with broad white margins, the abdomen white, with but few of the 

 black and pale rufous markings, the lower abdomen nearly pure white. 



The present species inhabits, according to Professor Menzbier (Ibis, 1887, p. 302), "only the 

 pine- and birch-woods in the country of the southern branches of the Ural. Its breeding-range 

 is limited, probably, on the west and north by the river Belaja, and on the north by the river 

 Ui." Mr. Nazaroff, who appears to have first noticed the difference between this form and 

 Tetrao urogallus, gives (I. c.) the same particulars of its range as Prof. Menzbier, and adds that 

 it is difficult to determine its northern limit, but that typical Tetrao urogallus is to be met with 

 in the vicinity of Verchne-Ouralsk, not far from Ekaterinburg. 



Prof. Menzbier says that the present species resembles the Black Grouse more than the 

 typical Capercaillie in its general habits ; and Mr. Nazaroff writes (I. c.) as follows : — " This 

 Capercaillie inhabits mixed forests, preferring old forests where there is under-brush. All the 

 gunners agree that the call of the "White-bellied Capercaillie differs from that of the typical 

 species, and I have received the following information on the subject: — The cocks commence to 

 call late in March as soon as the snow begins to melt, and at the end of April they cease to call, 



