118 
WILLOW GROUSE. 
with whitish. The back, some of the wing-coverts, the nearer secondary 
quills, the four upper tail-feathers, the anterior part of the breast, and part 
of the sides under the wings, variegated with brownish-black, chestnut and 
white, the feathers being of the first colour in the middle, and transversely 
barred with the second towards the end, while the terminal margin is of the 
last. Most of the coverts, all the primaries, and the greater number of the 
secondaries, with the whole under surface of the wings, the middle of the 
breast, the abdomen, legs and feet, pure white, the shafts of the primaries 
are more or less brown, excepting towards the ends. The fourteen tail- 
feathers are brownish-black, with the tips white, as is the basal portion of 
the outer web of the outermost. The superciliary membranes are vermilion. 
Length IT inches, extent of wings 26-J ; bill along the ridge 3 ; tarsus 1-J; 
middle toe with the nail lj? ; weight 1J lbs. 
Adult Female, in summer. 
In the female the superciliary membrane is much smaller, but of the same 
colour, as are the wings and tail. The head, neck, breast, abdomen, sides, 
as well as the upper parts, are variegated in a manner resembling the back 
of the male, but with the black spots larger, and the transverse bars of light 
brownish-red broader and less numerous ; the lower surface much lighter. 
* Length 16 inches, extent of wings 25 ; weight 1 lb. 
Young a few days old. 
The young are covered with a dense elastic down, of a yellowish tint, 
variegated above with a few large streaks of dark brown, on a light brown 
ground ; the top of the head with a longitudinal brown patch margined 
with black. 
The young when fully fledged resemble the female. 
The Labrador Tea Plant. 
Ledum latifolium, Willd., Sp. PI., vol. ii. p. 602. Pursh, FI. Amer. Sept., vol. i. p. 301. 
— Decandria Monogynia, Linn. — Rhododendra, Juss. 
The Labrador Tea Plant springs up among the rich and thick moss that 
everywhere covers the country of Labrador. I was informed that the 
fishermen and Indians frequently make use of it instead of tea. 
It is a small shrub, about a foot in height, with linear oblong leaves, 
which are folded back at the margin, and covered on the back with a rust- 
coloured down. The flowers are white. 
