20" 



sJ 



Genus TETRAO. 



Tetrao, Linnaeus, Syst.. Nat. i. p. 273 (1766). 

 Urogallus apud Kaup, Natiirl. Syst. p. 180 (1829). 

 Lyrurus apud Swainson, Faun. Bor.-Am. p. 497 (1831). 



The true Grouse inhabit the Palsearctic and Nearctic Regions, three species being found as 

 residents in the Western Palsearctic Region, They frequent woods, groves, heather-covered 

 localities, and especially places which are sparingly overgrown with trees, and open places in the 

 forests. They walk with ease, and run so fast that it is no easy matter to overtake a wounded 

 bird ; but they are often found on trees, and in the winter feed to a large extent on buds and 

 soft twigs, both of conifer and non-evergreen trees, birch catkins being a favourite staple of food 

 with some species. They are polygamous, the males meeting at regular resorts during the 

 pairing-season and fighting desperately for the possession of the females. 



The nest is a mere hollow scratched in the ground, and sparsely lined with grass ; and the 

 eggs, which are numerous, are yellowish white or yellowish grey, blotched and spotted with 

 orange and rufous. When the young are hatched they are able to run almost directly, and are 

 carefully tended by the female, but utterly neglected by the male. 



The food of the Grouse consists of seeds, fruits, berries, insects of various kinds, and the 

 soft twigs and buds of several species of forest trees. 



Tetrao urogallus, the type of the genus, has the bill rather short, strong, curved, the upper 

 mandible decurved to the tip, which is narrow, rounded, sharp-edged ; nostrils lateral, basal, 

 oblong, concealed by the short feathers of the nasal membrane ; above the eyes is a semilunar 

 space of bare papillate skin ; wings short, broad, curved, the first quill shorter than the secon- 

 daries, the second shorter than the sixth ; tail long, rounded ; legs rather short, strong, feathered 

 to the base of the toes, which are bare, scutellate, with a marginal series of obtuse scales, which 

 project like the teeth of a comb ; claws short, strong, arched, the edges thin, the tip obtuse. 



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