80 
THE RUFFED GROUSE. 
distance from each other, and may easily be smoked to death, by using the 
necessary precautions. 
I cannot conclude this article, kind reader, without observing how de- 
sirable the acquisition of this species might be to the sportsmen of Europe, 
and especially to those of'England, where I am surprised it has not yet been 
introduced. The size of these birds, the beauty of their plumage, the excel- 
lence of their flesh, and their peculiar mode of flying, would render them 
valuable, and add greatly to the interest of the already diversified sports of 
that country. In England and Scotland there are thousands of situations 
that are by nature perfectly suited to their habits, and I have not a doubt 
that a few years of attention would be sufficient to render them quite as 
common as the Grey Partridge. 
It is now ascertained that this species extends over the whole breadth of 
the Continent, it being found from our Atlantic districts to those bordering 
the Pacific Ocean, Mr. Townsend having observed it on the Missouri and 
along the Columbia river, and Mr. Drummond having procured specimens 
in the valleys of the Columbia river. According to Dr. Richardson, it 
reaches northward as far as the 56th parallel, and spends the winter on the 
banks of the Saskatchewan, where it is plentiful. It also exists in the 
Texas. It is more abundant in our western, middle, and eastern districts 
than in our southern states. In the maritime portions of South Carolina 
it does not exist. In Massachusetts, Maine, New Brunswick, and Nova 
Scotia, it is very plentiful ; but I saw none in Labrador, although I was 
assured that it occurs there, and did not hear of it in Newfoundland. 
Ruffed Grouse, Tetrao umbellus, Wils. Amer. Orn., vol. vi. p. 4G. 
Tetrao Umbellus, Bonap. Syn., p. 126. 
Tetrao Umbeli.us, Ruffed Grouse , Swains. & Rich. F. Bor. Amer., vol. ii. p. 342. 
Ruffed Grouse, Nutt. Man., vol. i. p. GoB 
Ruffed Grouse, Tetrao umbellus , Aud. Orn. Biog., vol. i. p. 211; vol. v. p. 560. 
Male, 18, 21. 
Common from Maryland to Labrador, and in the interior from the 
mountainous districts to Canada and the Saskatchewan. Columbia river. 
Resident. 
Adult Male. 
Bill short, robust, slightly arched, rather obtuse, the base covered by 
feathers ; upper mandible with the dorsal outline straight in the feathered 
part, convex towards the end, the edges overlapping, the tip declinate; under 
mandible somewhat bulging toward the tip, the sides convex. Nostrils 
concealed among the feathers. Head and neck small. Body bulky. Feet 
of ordinary length ; tarsus feathered, excepting at the lower part anteriorly, 
