1X8 WILLOW GROUSE. 



with whitish. The back, some of the wing-coverts, the nearer secondary 

 quills, the four upper tail-feathers, the anterior part of the breast, and part 

 of the sides under the wings, variegated with brownish-black, chestnut and 

 white, the feathers being of the first colour in the middle, and transversely 

 barred with the second towards the end, while the terminal margin is of the 

 last. Most of the coverts, all the primaries, and the greater number of the 

 secondaries, with the whole under surface of the wings, the middle of the 

 breast, the abdomen, legs and feet, pure white, the shafts of the primaries 

 are more or less brown, excepting towards the ends. The fourteen tail- 

 feathers are brownish-black, with the tips white, as is the basal portion of 

 the outer web of the outermost. The superciliary membranes are vermilion. 



Length 17 inches, extent of wings 26-|-; bill along the ridge f; tarsus 1^; 

 middle toe with the nail 1 T V, weight li lbs. 



Adult Female, in summer. 



In the female the superciliary membrane is much smaller, but of the same 

 colour, as are the wings and tail. The head, neck, breast, abdomen, sides, 

 as well as the upper parts, are variegated in a manner resembling the back 

 of the male, but with the black spots larger, arid the transverse bars of light 

 brownish-red broader and less numerous; the lower surface much lighter. 



Length 16 inches, extent of wings 25; weight 1 lb. 



Young a few days old. 



The young are covered with a dense elastic down, of a yellowish tint, 

 variegated above with a few large streaks of dark brown, on a light brown 

 ground; the top of the head with a longitudinal brown patch margined with 

 black. 



The young when fully fledged resemble the female. 



The Labrador Tea Plant. 



Ledum latifolium, Willd., Sp. PI., vol. ii. p. 602. Pursh, FJ. Amer. Sept., vol. i. p. 301. 

 — Decandria Monogynia, Linn. — Rhododendra, Juss. 



The Labrador Tea Plant springs up among the rich and thick moss that 

 everywhere covers the country of Labrador. I was informed that the 

 fishermen and Indians frequently make use of it instead of tea. 



It is a small shrub, about a foot in height, with linear oblong leaves, 

 which are folded back at the margin, and covered on the back with a rust- 

 coloured down. The flowers are white. 



