108 
NORTH AMERICAN BIRDS. 
iris brown ; legs red ; naked skin of head and neck blue ; the wattles red- 
j Length, 48.00 - 50.00 ; wing, 21.00 ; tail, 18.50; weight, 16-30 pounds. Female. 
I Weight 12 pounds; smaller and less brilliant. 
Tail-coverts dark purplish-chestnut throughout, with the tips not lighter. 
Tip of tail-feathers scarcely paler chestnut than the ground-color. Hab. 
Eastern Province of United States. {American Wild Turkey.) var. gallopavo . 
Tail-coverts chestnut, the tips much paler, sometimes almost white. Tip 
of tail-feathers light brownish-yellow or white ; sometimes with the coverts 
broadly whitish. Hab. Southern portion of Western Province of United 
States, from Texas to Arizona. Table-lands of Mexico, south to Orizaba, 
Mirador, etc. {Mexican Wild Turkey.) var. mexicanus. 
Family TETRAONIDiE. - The Gkouse. 
Char. Tarsi densely feathered ; sometimes the toes also. Nasal fossse filled by feathers 
which conceal the nostrils. Tail variable ; feathers sixteen to twenty. A bare space about 
the eyes. Frequently with an inflatable air-sac on the sides of the neck. Iris brown or 
hazel. Nest placed on the ground. Eggs numerous; six to fourteen ; small for the size 
of the bird ; their color varying with the species. 
A. Legs feathered to and on the basal membrane of the toes, which are them- 
selves bare. No ruff on the side of the neck, which, however, has an extensible 
bare space. 
Canace. Tail broad, nearly even, or truncate, and rounded laterally, two 
thirds the wing ; no crest or lengthened feathers. Nasal fossae scarcely half 
the culmen. Western races with more even tails. (Page 109.) 
Centrocercus. Tail excessively lengthened and cuneate ; longer than the 
wings. Nasal fossae two thirds the culmen. Shafts of feathers on the 
lower throat very spinous. (Page 110.) 
Pedicecetes. Tail very short, but graduated, and with the two middle 
feathers (perhaps tail-coverts) lengthened beyond the rest, and two thirds 
as long as the wing ; the next longest half the wing. Nasal fossae not half 
the length of culmen. Shafts of throat-feathers normal. (Page 110.) 
15 . Legs feathered to the lower end of tarsus. A pointed ruff on each side of 
neck. 
Cupidonia. Tail very short, truncate, but laterally graduated; half the 
wings. Sides of neck with long, pointed, or lanceolate, stiff feathers. Nasal 
fossae scarcely one third the culmen. (Page 111.) 
C. Legs feathered to the claws. No ruff. 
Lagopus. Tail about two thirds the wing, truncate ; of sixteen to eighteen 
feathers. Most species becoming white in winter ; none of the other genera 
exhibiting this peculiarity. (Page 111.) 
©. Lower half of tarsi bare, with two rows of scutellae anteriorly. A broad ruff. 
Bonasa. Sides of neck with a ruff of broad, truncate, soft feathers. Tail 
very broad, square, as long as the wings. (Page 112.) 
Genus CANACE, Reichenbach. (Page 108 .) 
Canace. Tail of sixteen feathers ; no air-sac on side of the neck. Size small. 
Dendragapus. Tail of twenty feathers; an inflatable air-sac on side of the neck. 
Size large. 
