WILLOW GROUSE. 
117 
compared with what it is in summer, when I found it tender, and haying an 
agreeable aromatic flavour. 
The Willow Grouse breeds in Labrador about the beginning of June. 
The female conceals her nest under the creeping branches of the low firs. 
It consists of bits of dry twigs and mosses drawn into a form. The eggs are 
from five to fourteen, according to the age of the bird, and are marbled with 
irregular spots of reddish-brown, on a dull fawn-colour or rufous ground 
They raise only one brood in the season. 
The pair represented in the plate, with their young, were procured by my 
friend George Shattuck, Esq., of Boston, one of my party, who shot the 
first pair found by us in Labrador. They were in their full summer 
plumage. I think these birds, as well as the Canada Grouse, have what I 
call a continued moult, young feathers being found upon them at all seasons. 
Tetrao (Lagopus) saliceti, Willow Grouse , Swains, and Rich. F. Bor. Amer., vol. 
ii. p. 351. 
Willow Grouse, or Large Ptarmigan, Nutt. Man., vol. i. p. 614. 
Willow Grouse, Tetrao saliceti , Aud. Orn. Biog., vol. ii. p. 528. 
Male, 17, 264. Female, 16, 26. 
In Maine, New Brunswick, and Nova Scotia, during winter. Breeds 
plentifully in Newfoundland, Labrador, and the Fur Countries. Rocky 
Mountains. 
Adult Male, in summer. 
Bill short, robust ; upper mandible with the dorsal outline curved, the 
edges overlapping, the tip declinate and rounded, the basal part with a deep 
sinus on each side ; lower mandible convex, broad, with the tip rounded. 
Nostrils basal, roundish, concealed by the feathers. Head small, neck rather 
long, body bulky. Feet of ordinary length ; tarsus feathered, as are the 
toes, excepting towards the end, where they are covered with small scales 
and three terminal scutellm ; hind toe extremely short, two lateral equal ; 
claws slightly arched, depressed, broad, with thin edges, and rounded. 
Plumage compact, the feathers generally rounded, those of the head and 
upper neck narrow and proportionally short. The legs and toes covered 
with hair-like feathers. Wings short, the primaries strong, narrow, taper- 
ing, curved ; third longest, second and fourth little shorter. Tail short, even, 
or very slightly rounded, of fourteen broad feathers, and four narrower 
central ones, which are superior. 
Bill black. Iris brown. Toes and claws dark brown, the edges of the 
latter yellowish-grey. Head and neck bright chestnut, the feathers on the 
back part of the latter and crown of the head barred with black, and tipped 
Vol. V. 16 
