DUSKY GROUSE. 
193 
tj^ 0n >e still longer and closer. All the others have 
J f oes scabrons beneath, and furnished with a pecti- 
'*f u of processes on each side.* This roughness 
tjj ''<■ sole of the feet enables them to tread firmly on 
^ *%pery surface of the ground or frozen snow, or to 
J!?P the branches of trees covered with ice. Their 
s are manifestly so formed as to suit them for 
^^hing away the snow covering the vegetables which 
jj^I'ose their food. The wings of the grouse are 
ll“ n and rounded ; the first primary is shorter than 
I,*' 'f fil'd and fourth, which are longest. The tail is 
, t| ! all y composed of eighteen feathers, generally broad 
hi f,Ju nded. The red grouse, T. scoticus, however, 
sk 'he European Bonasice, and T. canadensis, or 
1,-tad grouse, have but sixteen; while our two new 
I,. ’ 1 .* h American species have twenty, one of them 
these feathers very narrow and pointed, the 
1,1 "ness being also observed in the sharp-tailed 
They have the head small, the neck short, 
... tf'o body massive and very fleshy. 
t| hi 1( ‘ females of the larger species differ greatly from 
Stales, which are glossy black, or blackish, while 
,; (: >°rmer are mottled with gray, blackish, and rufous : 
c,';!' are all the typical Tetraones of Europe, and the 
df'? of the plains, the dusky, and the spotted grouse 
er ica. The smaller species, in which both sexes 
*.\1 .^.O'fled, such as T. phasaniellus and T. cupido, 
'"•a t tittle or no difference in the plumage of the 
in,? ?^Xes ; which is also the case in all the Bonasiee 
ill an 0 9opodes. The young in their first feathers are 
respects like the female, and the males do not 
4]j" lre their full plumage until after the second moult, 
el, **>oult twice a-year, and most of the Lagopodes 
th ‘ n 8'e their colours with the seasons in a remarkable 
ifo • genus Tetrao is now composed of thirteen 
' s ’ — three Lagopodes, two Bonasia:, and eight 
Pkal Tetraones. This enumeration does not include 
v Jhcse processes are liable to fall off, at least in preserved skins. 
° L - tv. x 7 
