WHITE-TAILED PTARMIGAN. 125 



obtained marked with undulated, slender, ash-grey, and dusky lines, in any 

 degree approaching those characteristic of the British bird in its autumnal 

 plumage. The bill of the Rock Grouse is shorter and thicker than that of 

 the Scotch Ptarmigan, although the reverse has been alleged. 



WHITE-TAILED PTARMIGAN. 



■f Lagopus leucurus, Swains. 



PLATE CCCIL— Adult in winter. 



This pretty little Grouse is an inhabitant of the Rocky Mountains, where 

 it was found by Mr. Douglas and afterwards by Mr. Drummond, who sent 

 several specimens to England. It is said to extend as far as the Columbia 

 river, but has not been observed in that region by either Mr. Nuttall or 

 Mr. Townsend. All that is known of its habits is, that they resemble 

 those of the Ptarmigan. Mr. Drummond states, that this bird never has the 

 black stripe from the bill to the eye, so conspicuous in the males of the other 

 species. My figure was drawn from the only specimen now in the Museum 

 of the Zoological Society of London. 



Tetrao (lagopus) leucurus, Swains. White-tailed Grouse, Richards, and Swains, 



Fauna Bor. Amer., vol. ii. p. 356. 

 White-tailed Grouse, Nutt. Man., vol. ii. p. 612. 

 White-tailed Grouse, Tetrao leucurus, Aud. Orn. Biog., vol. v. p. 200. 



Adult in winter. 



Bill short, robust; upper mandible with the dorsal outline curved, the 

 ridge and sides convex, the edges overlapping, the tip declinate, thin edged 

 and rounded; lower mandible with the angle short and wide, the dorsal line 

 convex, the back broadly convex, the sides rounded, the edges inflected, the 

 tip obtuse. Nostrils basal, roundish, concealed by the feathers. 



Head small, ovate; neck of moderate length; body full. Feet of ordinary 

 length, stout; tarsus and toes feathered; the first toe very small, the middle 

 toe much longer than the lateral, which are nearly equal. Claws slightly 

 arched, depressed, broad, thin-edged, the tip rather pointed. 



Vol. V. 18 



