80 TH E RUFFED GROUSE. 



distance from each other, and may easily be smoked to death, by using the 

 necessary precautions. 



I cannot conclude this article, kind reader, without observing how de- 

 sirable the acquisition of this species might be to the sportsmen of Europe, 

 and especially to those of England, where I am surprised it has not yet been 

 introduced. The size of these birds, the beauty of their plumage, the excel- 

 lence of their flesh, and their peculiar mode of flying, would render them 

 valuable, and add greatly to the interest of the already diversified sports of 

 that country. In England and Scotland there are thousands of situations 

 that are by nature perfectly suited to their habits, and I have not a doubt 

 that a few years of attention would be sufficient to render them quite as 

 common as the Grey Partridge. 



It is now ascertained that this species extends over the whole breadth of 

 the Continent, it being found from our Atlantic districts to those bordering 

 the Pacific Ocean, Mr. Townsend having observed it on the Missouri and 

 along the Columbia river, and Mr. Drummond having procured specimens 

 in the valleys of the Columbia river. According to Dr. Richardson, it 

 reaches northward as far as the 56th parallel, and spends the winter on the 

 banks of the Saskatchewan, where it is plentiful. It also exists in the Texas. 

 It is more abundant in our western, middle, and eastern districts than in our 

 southern states. In the maritime portions of South Carolina it does not 

 exist. In Massachusetts, Maine, New Brunswick, and Nova Scotia, it is 

 very plentiful; but I saw none in Labrador, although I was assured that it 

 occurs there, and did not hear of it in Newfoundland. 



Ruffed Grouse, Tetrao umbellus, Wils. Arner. Orn., vol. vi. p. 46. 



Tetrao umbellus, Bonap. Syn., p. 126. 



Tetrao umbellus, Ruffed Grouse, Swains. & Rich. F. Bor. Amer., vol. ii. p. 342. 



Ruffed Grouse, Nutt. Man., vol. i. p. 657. 



Ruffed Grouse, Tetrao umbellus, Aud. Orn. Biog., vol. i. p. 211; vol. v. p. 560. 



Male, 18, 24. 



Common from Maryland to Labrador, and in the interior from the 

 mountainous districts to Canada and the Saskatchewan. Columbia river. 

 Resident. 



Adult Male. 



Bill short, robust, slightly arched, rather obtuse, the base covered by 

 feathers; upper mandible with the dorsal outline straight in the feathered 

 part, convex towards the end, the edges overlapping, the tip declinate; under 

 mandible somewhat bulging toward the tip, the sides convex. Nostrils 

 concealed among the feathers. Head and neck small. Body bulky. Feet 

 of ordinary length; tarsus feathered, excepting at the lower part anteriorly, 



