48 
SPOTTED GROUS. 
Forster, and others; and in their decision Gmelin, Latham, and all 
subsequent writers have acquiesced. Both sexes were tolerably 
well figured by Buffon, as they had also been previously by 
Edwards; but we feel justified in saying that none of their plates 
will bear a comparison with the present. 
The Spotted Grous is well characterized by its much rounded 
tail, of but sixteen broad and rounded feathers, and may be at 
once distinguished from all others by the large and conspicuous 
white spots ornamenting the breast, flanks, and under tail-coverts. 
It has been inaccurately compared with the European Tetrao 
bonasia , from which it differs very materially, not even being of 
the same subgenus, and approaching nearer, if indeed it can be 
compared with any, to the Tetrao urogallus. 
This bird is common at Hudson’s bay throughout the year, there 
frequenting plains and low grounds, though in other parts of 
America it is found on mountains, even of great elevation. It 
inhabits Canada in winter, and was seen by Vieillot in great 
numbers during the month of October in Nova-Scotia. Lewis 
and Clark met with it on the elevated range of the Rocky 
Mountains, and brought back from their western expedition a male 
specimen now deposited in the Philadelphia Museum, where it has 
been long exhibited under the name of Louisiana Grous. This, as 
truly observed by Say, first entitled it to rank among the birds of 
the United States. But the Rocky Mountains are not the only 
region of the United States territory where the Spotted Grous is 
found. We have traced it with certainty as a winter visitant of the 
northern extremity of Maine, Michigan, and even of the state of 
New-York; where, though very rare, it is found in the counties of 
Lewis and Jefferson. On the frontiers of Maine it is abundant, and 
has been seen by Professor Holmes of the Gardiner Lyceum, near 
Lake Umbagog and others. In these countries the Spotted Grous is 
known by the various names of Wood Partridge, Swamp Partridge, 
. * 
T 
