580 SYSTEMATIC SYNOPSIS. — GALLIN2E— ALECTOROPOBES. 
A mere variety, only recognizable wlien fully developed ; many intermediate specimens cannot 
be fairly referred to one rather than the other. 
559. C. o. fuligino'sa. (Lat. fuliginosa, sooty.) SoOTY G-ROUSE. With the broad slate tail- 
bar of ohscura proper, but colors darker than in richardsoni even. Above, blackish, minutely 
freckled with gray and rusty-brown ; below, dark plumbeous. The hen is more different, with 
prevailing rich rusty and chestnut-brown markings. , Northwest coast mountains, Oregon to 
Sitka. 
205. CENTROCER'CUS. (Gr. Kevrpov, Jcentron, a spine, prickle; KepKos, kerkos, tail.) Sage 
Grouse. Spine-tail Grouse. Of great size. Tail very long, equalling or exceeding the 
wings, of 20 stiffened, narrow, acuminate feathers, much graduated in length. Neck suscept- 
ible of enormous distension by means of air-sacs covered with naked livid skin — not regularly 
hemispherical and lateral like those of Cupidonia, but forming a great protuberance in front of 
irregular contour; surmounted by a fringe of hair-like filaments, several inches long, springing 
from a mass of erect white feathers ; covered below with a solid set of sharp white horny 
feathers, like fish-scales. (The alfair is not easy to describe in few words, especially as it is 
constantly changing with the wear of the feathers, and is only fully exhibited by the cock 
during the amours. The anatomical arrangement for inflation is only a special exhibition of 
the air-sacs of other genera, as Cupidonia and Pedicecetes ; the peculiarities of the feathers 
are the inherited results of habitual attrition, the birds rubbing the breast against the 
ground in their love-spasms ; and, as said, the state of the parts is always changing with the 
wear of the feathers. This accounts for the vague or conflicting statements of authors.) 
Tarsus feathered to the toes. Digestive system remarkable for the slight muscularity of the 
gizzard, which is rather a membranous paunch than a grist-mill ; the bird browses rather than 
scratches for a living, feeding on wormwood and also extensively on insects. Sexes similar in 
color, unlike in size and to some extent in form. One prairie species, perfectly terrestrial. 
560. C. urophasia'nus. (Gr. ovpa, owra, tail ; (paaiavos, phasia7ios, Aiphesissait.) Sage Cock. 
Sage Hen. Cock of the Plains. Largest of American Grouse. Full grown cock 2-2i 
feet long ; extent of wings 3 feet or more ; wing and tail about a foot ; weight upwards of 4 
pounds. Hen a third smaller. Above, varied with black, gray, brown and buff; below, 
chiefly white, with a large squarish black area on the belly. To describe the peculiar neck- 
feathering of the old cock more particularly : On each side is a patcli of feathers, meeting in 
front, with extremely stiff" bases, prolonged into hair-like filaments some three inches in length; 
with the wearing away of these feathers in the peculiar actions of the bird in pairing-time, 
their hard horny bases are left, forming the fish-scales " above said. In front of these 
peculiar feathers is the naked tympanum, capable of enormous inflation under amatory excite- 
ment. Above them is a tuft of down-feathers, covered with a set of long soft filamentous 
plumes corresponding to the ruflf of Bonasa. Many breast feathers resemble the scaly ones of 
the neck, and are commonly found worn to a bristly thread -bare" state. Scaly bases of the 
feathers soiled white ; the thready ends blackish ; the flufl'y feathers snowy- white, like M^ool, 
the longer overlying filamentous plumes glossy black. Chin and throat blackish, speckled with 
white ends of the feathers, usually presenting a definite white half-collar. Lining of wings 
white. Hen : Length about 20 inches; wing 10 inches ; tail 7 or S, of same general character 
as the cock's, but softer, shorter, less cuneate, with more rapidly tapering feathers. A small 
tympanam, but no obviously peculiar feathers on neck. Coloration quite like that of the cock. 
Pullet : No peculiar neck-feathers ; tail beginning to show its special form ; general coloration 
of the hen. Before the September moult, all the feathers of the upper parts with sharp 
white hammer-headed shaft lines, and circular spotting of the feathers of the breast. Sooty 
belly-patch showing with the first feathering. Chick in down altogether different from the 
dingy yellow chick of Pedicecetes ; below grayish- white, above gray-brown mottled with black ; 
bill black. This remarkable bird, quite a Roland for the Capercaillie's Oliver, inhabits the 
