500 
SPOTTED GROUSE. 
tlie orange bands are broader ; all tbe remaining parts of the 
body above, including the tail-coverts, are more confusedly 
banded and mottled with duller rusty, orange, and grey, on a 
blackish ground, these colours themselves being also sprinkled 
with a little black ; the sides of the head, the throat, and all 
the neck below, are dull rusty orange, each feather varied 
with black; on the lower portion of the breast, the black 
bands are broad and very deep, alternating equally with the 
orange rusty, and even gradually encroaching upon the ground 
colour ; the breast is deep black, each feather, as well as those 
of the under parts, including the lower tail-coverts, are broadly 
tipped with pure white, forming over all the inferior surface 
very large and close spots, each feather having besides one or 
two rusty orange spots, much paler and duller on the belly, and 
scarcely appearing when the plumage lies close : the feathers 
of the flanks are blackish, deeper at first, and barred with very 
bright orange, then much mottled with dull greyish rusty, each 
having a triangular white spot near the tip. The wings and 
tail are similar to those of the male, the variegation of the sca- 
pulars and upper coverts being only of a much more rusty 
tinge, dull orange in the middle on the shaft, all the larger 
feathers having, moreover, a white streak along the shaft end- 
ing in a pure white spot, wanting in the male. The outer 
edge of the primaries is more broadly whitish, and the tertials 
are dingy white at the point, being also crossed with dull 
orange ; the tail feathers, especially the middle ones, are more 
thickly sprinkled with rusty orange, taking the appearance of 
bands on the middle feathers, their orange-coloured tip being, 
moreover, not so pure, and also sprinkled. 
The bird represented in the plate, comes from the Rocky 
Mountains : it is a male, and remarkably distinguished from 
the common ones of his species, by having the tail-feathers 
entirely black to the end. This difference I have observed to 
be constant in other specimens from the same wild locality ; 
whilst all the northern specimens, of which I have examined 
a great number, are alike distinguished by the broad rufous 
