140 
THE COCK OF THE PLAINS. 
Centroccrcus uraphasi anus — S W a I son, 
PLATE XVII. 
) 
Cock of fbe Plains, Lewis and Clark.— -Tetrao urophasiarttta, 
Bonaparte* Continuation*, pi. xxi Pheasant-tailed grouse, 
WUson^lllusi, ofZool . pis. xx vi. and xxvii — .Centroccrcus 
■urophEisiunus, North. Zool. ii. p, 353. 
Tins splendid bird is the largest of the American 
grouse ; and, as far as beauty, size, and ratify are 
concerned, bears the same rank to the American 
Fauna with the wood-grouse or cock of the wood of 
Europe, He is equally sought after by the hunts- 
man, and is even now as difficult to procure as that 
we have just compared him to. But the form and 
habits are quite distinct. In our once native bird the 
form is remarkably powerful, [he tail rounded and 
very ample, the habitation, the most extensive fo- 
rests, delighting to perch on the highest trees. The 
bird of America inhabits only the uncovered plains, 
never perches, and the form of the tail is lengthen- 
ed, the feathers narrowing to a point. This acquisi- 
tion to the grouse was first noticed in the expedi- 
tion of Lewis and Clark, who met with it near the 
fountain of the Missouri* in tbo heart of the Rocky 
