A History of North American Birds; Land Birds; Vol. 3 of 3 (part 4 of 5)

A History of North American Birds; Land Birds; Vol. 3 of 3 (part 4 of 5)

Dr. Cooper’s account of these birds is substantially similar to the account given by Dr. Suckley of the fuliginosus. He found it common in most of the forests, especially in the dense spruce woods near the coast. It was rarely seen on the open prairie. In the dense woods it was exceedingly difficult to detect. During May, near the coast, and till August, on the mountains, the low tooting of this Grouse was heard everywhere, sounding something like the cooing of a Pigeon, but in the same deep tone as the drumming of the Ruffed Grouse. Dr. Cooper also mentions its remarkable powers of ventriloquism, so that while the bird may be sitting on a tree directly over your head the sound seems to come from places quite remote.

Dr. Woodhouse states that the Dusky Grouse is found among the mountains about Santa Fé, in New Mexico.

This Grouse was first met with by Mr. Ridgway on the Sierra Nevada, in the vicinity of Carson City, where it was seen in the possession of Indians who had been hunting on the mountains. It was found on the East Humboldt Mountains, in the month of September, and at that time occurred in small flocks, consisting chiefly of young birds, and probably composed of single families. Afterwards, in the summer of 1869, it was found in considerable abundance in Parley’s Park, a few miles from Salt Lake City. It there chiefly inhabited the copses of scrub-oaks along the lower border of coniferous woods. In July it was found in the Uintah Mountains in very great abundance, and for a while formed the chief subsistence of the party. It was there known as the Mountain Grouse. Nothing very distinctive was ascertained in regard to its habits, except that it was said to resemble very closely, in manners, the Ruffed Grouse. Its flesh was excellent eating.

Dr. Suckley, in a series of papers on the Grouse of the United States which were read before the New York Lyceum in 1860, states that this species probably extend their range to quite a distance south of latitude 40° along the line of the Rocky Mountains, in New Mexico. This writer claimed to have met with them near Pike’s Peak, in the Cheyenne Pass, and in 1853 he found them in great numbers in Lewis and Clarke’s Pass, west of Fort Benton. He also found them abundantly in Oregon and on the slopes of the Cascade and Coast Ranges, extending wherever pine or fir timber occurs, to the very borders of the ocean. The Black Hills, in Nebraska, he gives as their most eastern limit.

The same author corrects the statements of Douglas as to certain habits of this species. The males are said not to be particularly pugnacious, and very rarely forsake the boughs of the pine or fir trees for a rocky eminence. They feed on berries only during a brief season in autumn, at all other times of the year subsisting upon the leaves of the pine and fir, especially those of the Douglas Fir. This food imparts a strong resinous flavor to the flesh of this Grouse, which, however, is not unpleasant, and after a while becomes quite attractive to the epicure. The love-notes of this bird are said to be deep, soft, plaintive, but unmusical, and resemble the whirring sounds made by a rattan, swung rapidly and in jerks through the air. These notes usually begin the first week in March. The young are able to fly feebly by the first of July. By the last of August they have attained their full size. In the winter they retire to the tops of the loftiest firs, where they pass the season in an almost immovable state of hibernation. Between July and winter they may be readily shot. Once raised, they invariably fly to trees. They heed but little the report of a gun unless they have been wounded. Their flesh is said to be midway between the color of the Pinnated and the Ruffed Grouse, partaking of their good qualities, but surpassing either.

The eggs of this species are oval in shape; one end is a little more obtuse than the other. The ground is of a pale cream-color, and is marked with small rounded spots of reddish-brown. These are more numerous and larger towards the larger end. They measure 1.95 inches in length and 1.45 in breadth.

Canace obscurus, var. fuliginosus, RIDGWAY.

OREGON DUSKY GROUSE.

? Tetrao obscurus, NEWBERRY, P. R. R. Rept. VI, iv, 1857, 93.—COOP. & SUCKL. 219.—LORD, Pr. R. A. Inst. IV, 122 (British Columbia).—DALL & BANNISTER, Trans. Chicago Ac. I, 1869, 287 (Alaska).—FINSCH, Ab. Nat. III, 1872, 61 (Alaska).

SP. CHAR. Beneath plain dark plumbeous, without whitish borders to the feathers except on flanks and crissum; whole head almost uniformly plain dusky-black. Tarsi dark plumbeous. Wing, 9.50; tail, 7.50; tarsus, 1.75; middle toe, 1.80.

Female (11,826, Chiloweyuck Depot, Washington Territory, Aug. 6, 1858; C. B. Kennerly). Above black, broken by transverse mottlings of bright reddish-brown or rufous; these confused posteriorly, but in form of regular transverse bars anteriorly. Below dusky-plumbeous, plain on abdomen, with sagittate spots on jugulum, and deltoid ones on the flanks, etc., of reddish-white. Length, 20.00; wing, 8.50; tail, 6.30.

Adult male (4,505, Cascade Mountains, Dr. Newberry). Above plain fuliginous-black, the mottlings scarcely apparent. No white markings on scapulars; tail-band deep plumbeous, only .60 wide, but well defined.

Young (11,827, Chiloweyuck Depot). Similar to, but much more reddish than, young of var. obscurus.

HAB. Northwest coast region, from Oregon to Sitka.

A male (46,070, May, 1866; Bischoff) from Sitka is much mottled with bright reddish-rusty on the dorsal region, and washed with the same on the forehead. (Tail-band .60 of an inch wide). A female (46,073, Sept., 1866) from same locality is so strongly washed with dark, almost castaneous, ferruginous as to appear mostly of this color above, this being very bright on the crown and forehead.

HABITS. This race is the more northern and northwestern coast form of the Dusky Grouse, and is found from the Columbia River and British Columbia to Alaska. According to Dr. Suckley, it is generally known as the Blue Grouse in Oregon, and is also called the Pine Grouse, as well as the Dusky Grouse. He met with it for the first time when his party had reached the main chain of the Rocky Mountains, and where they found it exceedingly abundant, as afterwards in the Blue Mountains of Oregon, the Cascade Mountains, and in all the timbered country between the Coast Range and the Pacific Ocean. About the middle of November these birds are said to entirely disappear, and it is very rare to meet with even a single individual between that period and the 20th of the following March. As to their whereabouts during this period there is a great difference of opinion among the settlers. Some maintain that they are migratory and retire to the south. Others are of the opinion that they retire to the tops of the highest evergreen trees, where they pass the cold season in a state of partial torpor among the thickest foliage of the branches. As these birds are known to subsist on the leaves of the Coniferæ, and can always obtain sufficient water from the snow and rain-drops to supply their wants, Dr. Suckley was inclined to favor the latter explanation of their absence. He saw one of these birds on the ground during a fall of snow, in January, near the Nisqually River, in Washington Territory, and he was informed that a hunter near Olympia, whose eyesight was remarkably excellent, was able, any day during the winter, to obtain several birds by searching carefully for them among the tree-tops of the tallest and most thickly leaved firs. This requires much better eyesight than most men possess, for these birds are of a sombre hue, crowd very closely to the limb, and sit there immovable. They are therefore very difficult to find among the dense branches.

The first indication of their presence in spring is the courting call of the male. This is a prolonged sound, resembling the whir of a rattan cane moved rapidly through the air. This is repeated several times with considerable rapidity, and then stops for a brief interval. This is said to be produced by the alternate inflation and contraction of sacs, one on each side of the throat, which are usually concealed by the feathers, and are covered by an orange-colored, thick, corrugated skin. At Fort Steilacoom these birds were very abundant during the spring and early summer, and were mostly confined to the forests of firs. Later in the season, and after hatching, they are more generally found on the ground in search of berries and seeds. When alarmed, they seek safety among the dense foliage of the trees, seeming instinctively to understand the advantage of thus hiding. He has known an entire flock of five, concealed among the ferns and grass, to be shot one by one, without an attempt being made by a single individual to fly. This Grouse is said to be a very fine table bird, its pine taste only adding to its game-flavor. Their full weight is from 2¾ to 3½ pounds.

Dr. Cooper never met with the nest of eggs of either of the races of the Dusky Grouse, but in June flocks of half-grown young were killed by the Indians near Puget Sound. In winter they were so rarely seen west of the mountains that they are believed to keep entirely in the trees. In October, 1853, he saw a flock running through the snow near the Spokane Plains, one of which was shot; but he never afterwards met with any in the winter.

Mr. J. K. Lord found this Grouse almost exclusively on the western side of the Rocky Mountains. It appeared at Vancouver, at Nisqually, and along the banks of the Fraser River, about the end of March, the male bird announcing his coming by a kind of love-song. This is a booming noise, repeated at short intervals, and so deceptive that Mr. Lord has often stood under the tree where the bird was perched and imagined the sound came from a distance.

Mr. Nuttall found this Grouse breeding in the shady forests of the region of the Columbia, where he saw or heard them throughout the summer. He describes the tooting made by the male as resembling the sound caused by blowing into the bung-hole of a barrel. They breed on the ground, and are said to keep the brood together all winter.

Townsend describes the eggs as numerous, of a cinereous-brown color, blunt at both ends, and small for the bird. The actions of the female, when the young are following her, are said to be exactly similar to those of the Ruffed Grouse, employing all the artifices of that bird in feigning lameness, etc., to draw off intruders.

Canace obscurus, var. richardsoni, DOUGLAS.

RICHARDSON’S DUSKY GROUSE.

Tetrao obscurus, AUD. Orn. Biog. IV, 1838, 446, pl. ccclxv.—IB. Syn. 1839, 283.—IB. B. Am. I, 1842, 89.—NUTT. Orn. I, 1840, 609.—SWAINS. F. B. A. II, 1831, 344, pl. lix, lx. Tetrao richardsoni, DOUGL. Linn. Trans. XVI, 141.—LORD, Pr. R. A. I. IV, 122 (between Cascade and Rocky Mountains).—GRAY, Cat. B. Brit. Mus. V, 1867, 86. Dendragapus richardsoni, ELLIOT, P. A. N. S. 1864, 23.—IB. Monog. Tetraon, pl.—WILSON, Illust. 1831, pl. xxx, xxxi.

SP. CHAR. Tail-feathers broad and nearly truncated; tail almost perfectly square, and black to the tip, with the terminal band either only faintly indicated or entirely wanting; in all other respects exactly like var. obscurus. Male (18,397, Browns Cut off. N. Rocky Mountains; Lieutenant Mullan). Length, about 20.00; wing, 9.00; tail, 7.30; tarsus, 1.70; middle toe, 1.85. Female (18,398, forty miles west of Fort Benton; Lieutenant Mullan). Wing, 8.60; tail, 6.00; tarsus, 1.60; middle toe, 1.60.

HAB. Rocky Mountains of British America, south to the Yellowstone and Hellgate region of the United States.

No. 18,377, Hellgate, and others from localities where this form and var. obscurus approach each other, have the terminal zone of the tail of the usual width, and even sharply defined; but it is so dark as to be scarcely distinguishable from the ground-color.

HABITS. In regard to distinctive peculiarities in habits and manners, of this form of Grouse, if it possesses any, our information is quite limited. In its external markings and in size it appears to be readily distinguishable from the T. obscurus either specifically or as a well-marked interior race. Mr. J. K. Lord refers to it in his account of the obscurus, where he states that between the Cascades and the Rocky Mountains the Dusky Grouse appears to be replaced by a well-marked variety, if not a distinct species. In size it is a trifle smaller, but the great mark of distinction is the entire absence of the white band at the end of the tail. In their habits, in their periods of arrival and departure, or rather of appearance and disappearance, the two varieties are pronounced to be, in every respect, similar. In regard to their unexplained disappearance and reappearance, Mr. Lord is of the opinion that these birds do not migrate, but only retire into the thickest trees, and, living on the buds, pass the winter thus sheltered in the tree-tops.

Captain Blakiston thinks that this species is the form that inhabits the interior of British North America, and refers the figure of the male in Richardson’s Fauna to the richardsoni,—the Black-tailed and smaller species. In his wanderings he met with these birds only in or near the pine woods on the slopes of the Rocky Mountains; but, having killed only females, he could not feel certain of the species. These Grouse range towards the Pacific as far as the Cascade Mountains of Oregon and British Columbia, and along the Rocky Mountains from the head-waters of the Platte to the Liard River, a tributary of the Mackenzie. When the ranges of the two species are fully defined, he thinks the T. richardsoni will be found the more northern bird.

The eggs of Tetrao richardsoni are very similar, except in size, to those of the obscurus, resembling them closely in their ground-color, as well as in their markings. In the specimens in the cabinet of the Boston Natural History Society the spots are smaller, a little less distinct, and less numerous. The eggs are 1.75 inches in length, and from 1.35 to 1.36 inches in breadth.

GENUS CENTROCERCUS, SWAINSON.

Centrocercus, SWAINSON, F. B. A. II, 1831, 496. (Type, Tetrao urophasianus, BON.)

GEN. CHAR. Tail excessively lengthened (longer than the wings), cuneate, the feathers all lanceolate and attenuate. Lower throat and sides of the neck with stiffened, apparently abraded, spinous feathers. Nasal fossæ extending very far forward, or along about two thirds of the culmen. Color mottled yellowish-grayish and dusky above; beneath whitish with black abdominal patch. Stomach not muscular, but soft, as in the Raptorial birds!

Centrocercus urophasianus, (BON.) SW.

SAGE-COCK; COCK OF THE PLAINS.

Tetrao urophasianus, BONAP. Zool. Jour. III, Jan. 1828, 214.—IB. Am. Orn. III, 1830, pl. xxi, f. 1.—IB. Mon. Tetrao, in Trans. Am. Phil. Soc. N. S. III, 1830, 390.—DOUGLAS, Trans. Linn. Soc. XVI, 1829, 133.—NUTTALL, Man. I, 1832, 666.—AUD. Orn. Biog. IV, 1838, 503, pl. ccclxxi.—IB. Birds Amer. V, 1842, 106, pl. ccxcvii.—NEWBERRY, Zoöl. Cal. & Or. Route, Rep. P. R. R. Surv. VI, iv, 1857, 95.—MAX. Cab. J. VI, 1858, 431.—WILSON, Illust. 1831, pl. xxvi, xxvii. Tetrao (Centrocercus) urophasianus, SW. F. Bor. Am. II, 1831, 358, pl. lviii.—GRAY, Cat. B. Brit. Mus. III, 46, 1844.—BAIRD, Birds N. Am. 1858, 624.—COOP. & SUCKL. 222.—JARD. Game Birds, Nat. Lib. IV, 140, pl. xvii.—ELLIOT, P. A. N. S, 1864.—IB. Monog. Tetraon. pl.—GRAY, Cat. Brit. Mus. V, 1867, 87.—COOP. & SUCK. 222.—COOP. Orn. Cal. I, 1870, 536. Centrocercus urophasianus, JARDINE, Game Birds, Nat. Lib. Birds, IV, 140, pl. xvii. ?? Tetrao phasianellus, ORD, Guthrie’s Geog. (2d Am. ed.) II, 1815, 317, based on Lewis & Clark, II, 181. Cock of the Plains, LEWIS & CLARK, II, 180, sp. 2.

SP. CHAR. Tail-feathers twenty. Above varied with black, grayish-brown, and brownish-yellow; coverts having all the feathers streaked with the latter. Beneath black; the breast white; the upper feathers with spiny shafts; the lower streaked with black; tail-coverts with white tips; the sides also with much white. Male. Length, 33.00; wing, 13.00; tail, 13.00. Female. Length, 21.50; wing, 10.75; tail, 7.50. Chick. Upper surface brownish-gray, lower grayish-white. Above irregularly and coarsely marbled with black, the markings most conspicuous on the head. Bill black.

HAB. Artemisia, or sage, plains of the Northwest.

HABITS. The Cock of the Plains appears to be confined to dry and sterile regions, from the Black Hills to California and Oregon, and from British Columbia nearly to Arizona, but only in those portions of the plains in which the Artemisia, or sage, abounds. It was met with by Townsend for the first time about fifty miles west of the Black Hills. He did not find them in the valley of the Snake River, but saw them again at Wallah-Wallah, on the banks of the Columbia, and near the mouth of the Lewis River. He only found it on the plains that produce the wormwood, on which plant it feeds, and in consequence of which the flesh becomes so bitter that it is unfit for food. It was very unsuspicious and easily approached, rarely flying unless hard pressed, and running ahead at the distance of a few feet, clucking like the common Hen. When disturbed, it would often run under the horse’s feet. According to his account it rises very clumsily, but, when once started, flies with great rapidity and also to a great distance. It is said to have the sailing motion of the Pinnated Grouse. They are abundant in autumn on the branches of the Columbia, at which time they are regarded as good food by the natives, and are taken in great quantities in nets.

Mr. Nuttall met with this Grouse in considerable numbers on the north branch of the Platte. They were always on the ground in small flocks or pairs, by no means shy; but when too nearly approached, uttering a rather loud but short guttural cackle, and rising with a strong whirring sound. Their notes, at times, strongly resembled those of the common Hen. He never met with them in any forest, nor have they been taken near the coast of California.

This species was first obtained by Lewis and Clark’s party in their expedition to the Rocky Mountains. It was afterwards met with by Douglas, who published in the Linnæan Transactions (XVI, p. 133) an account of its habits. He described its flight as slow, unsteady, and as affording but little amusement to the sportsman; being a succession of flutterings, rather than anything else. They rise hurriedly, giving two or three flaps of the wing, swinging from side to side in their movement, and gradually falling, making a whirring sound, at the same time uttering a cry of cuck-cuck-cuck, like the common Pheasant. They pair in March and April.

At the mating-season the male is said to select some small eminence on the banks of streams for the very singular performances it goes through with at that period in the presence of its mate. The wings are lowered and dragged on the ground, making a buzzing sound; the tail, somewhat erect, is spread like a fan; the bare and yellow œsophagus is inflated to a prodigious size, and said to become nearly half as large as its body, while the silky flexile feathers on the neck are erected. Assuming this grotesque form, the bird proceeds to display a singular variety of attitudes, at the same time chanting a love-song in a confused and grating, but not an offensively disagreeable tone, represented as resembling hurr-hurr-hurr-r-r-r-hoo, ending in a deep and hollow utterance.

Their nests were found, by Douglas, on the ground, under the shade of Artemisia, or when near streams, among Phalaris arundinacea, and were carefully constructed of dry grass and slender twigs. The eggs are said to be as many as from thirteen to seventeen in number, and the period of incubation to be twenty-one or twenty-two days. The young leave the nest soon after they are hatched.

In the winter these birds are said to be found in large flocks of several hundreds, in the spring in pairs, and later in the summer and fall in small family groups. They were abundant throughout the barren amid plains of the Columbia and in Northern California, but were not met with east of the Rocky Mountains.

Dr. Newberry regards this Grouse, when in full plumage, as rather a handsome bird, and much better looking than any figure he has seen of it. It is much the largest of American Grouse, weighing from five to six pounds. The female is much smaller than the male, and is of a uniform sober-brown color. The male bird has a distinctive character in the spaces of bare orange-colored skin which occupy the sides of the neck, and are usually concealed by the feathers, but may be inflated to a great size. The species was not found in the valleys of California, but belongs both to the fauna of the interior basin and to that of the Rocky Mountains, the dry desert country lying on both flanks of this chain. He first found it high up on Pit River, and once came suddenly upon a male in an oasis near a warm spring, which started up with a great flutter and rush, and, uttering a hoarse hek-hek, flew off with an irregular but remarkably well-sustained flight, which was continued until the bird was out of sight. In searching around he soon found its mate, which rose from under a sage-bush with a noise like a whirlwind. This specimen was secured, and these birds were afterwards found to be quite abundant, but very strong-winged and difficult to kill. It was no uncommon thing, Dr. Kennerly states, for him to pour a full charge of shot into them at a short distance, dislodging a quantity of feathers, and yet to have them fly off to so great a distance before they dropped that he could not follow them. He found them only in the vicinity of the sage-bushes, under which they were usually concealed. He afterwards saw them very abundant on the shores of Wright and Rhett Lakes. In one instance he observed a male bird to sink down on the ground, as the train approached, depressing its head, and lying as motionless as a stick, which it greatly resembled. As he moved towards it, the bird lowered its head until it rested on the ground, and made itself as small as possible, and did not rise until he had arrived within fifteen feet of it. West of the Cascade Range it did not occur, and all its preferences and habits seemed to fit it for the occupancy of the sterile region of the central desert. Its flesh is dark and highly flavored with the wormwood. The young, if parboiled and stewed, are said to be quite good; but, on the whole, this Grouse is inferior for the table to any other American species.

Dr. Cooper gives this bird as common in Washington Territory, on the high barren hills and deserts east of the Cascade Mountains, and limited in its range by the growth of the Artemisia tridentata, the leaves of which shrub seem to be the principal part of its food; the flesh tasting so strongly of it as to be unpalatable. He saw none north of the Spokane Plains, the country being apparently too woody. On those plains they were very common. He describes its flight as more heavy and less noisy than that of most Grouse, and when they are started, it commonly extends a long distance before alighting.

Dr. Suckley found the Sage-Cock abundant on the plains of Oregon, near Snake River, on both sides of the Blue Mountains, as also along the line of the Columbia, on the open plains, and on the sage barrens of the Yakima and Simcoe Valleys,—in fact, wherever the artemisia was found. The leaves of this shrub either are preferred or are necessary to its existence, for no other food was found in their full stomachs, even in localities where abundance of grass-seed, wild grain, grasshoppers, and other kinds of food, might be found. This species has apparently the power of going a long while without water. Lieutenant Fleming informed Dr. Suckley that he found them about twelve miles west of Fort Laramie, but they were not seen east of that point so far south. In August, 1853, one was procured about two hundred miles east of the Rocky Mountains. He also observed a small flock on the plains bordering on Milk River, in Nebraska. Near Soda Lake, the sink of the Mohave River, Dr. Cooper met with it, which is without doubt the most southern point at which it has been discovered. Dr. Coues has never met with it in Arizona.

Mr. Ridgway encountered it everywhere in the Great Basin where there was a thrifty growth of the artemisia, which appears everywhere to regulate its existence. He corroborates the accounts given of its heavy, lumbering flight; and when it has once escaped, it flies so far that the sportsman rarely has a second opportunity to flush it. It rises apparently with great effort. He was told by the settlers of Nevada and Utah that the Sage-Hen was never known to touch grain of any kind, even when found in the vicinity of grain-fields. This is attributed to a very curious anatomical peculiarity of the species,—the entire absence of a gizzard; having instead a soft membranous stomach, rendering it impossible to digest any hard food. In a large number of specimens dissected, nothing was found but grasshoppers and leaves of the artemisia.

Two eggs in my cabinet, from Utah, measure, one 2.20 by 1.50 inches, and the other 2.15 by 1.45. They are of an elongate-oval shape, slightly pointed at one end. Their ground-color varies from a light-greenish drab to a drab shaded with buff. They are thickly freckled with small rounded spots of reddish-brown and dark chestnut.

GENUS PEDIŒCETES, BAIRD.

Pediœcetes, BAIRD, Birds N. Am. 1858, 625. (Type, Tetrao phasianellus, LINN.)

GEN. CHAR. Tail short, graduated; exclusive of the much lengthened middle part, where are two feathers (perhaps tail-coverts) with parallel edges and truncated ends half the full rounded wing. Tarsi densely feathered to the toes and between their bases. Neck without peculiar feathers. Culmen between the nasal fossæ not half the total length.

Species and Varieties.

=P. phasianellus.= Above variegated with transverse spots of yellowish-brown and black; wing-coverts with large, roundish white spots; outer webs of primaries with quadrate white spots. Beneath white anteriorly and along the sides, with V-shaped marks of brown or dusky. Sexes alike in color and size.

Above blackish-dusky, variegated transversely with yellowish-brown; scapulars with broad white medial longitudinal streaks of white. Markings below clear, uniform blackish-dusky. Toes entirely hidden by the long hair-like feathers of the tarsus. Head and neck with the ground-color white, the throat heavily spotted with dusky. Hab. British America to Arctic regions …

var. phasianellus.

Above yellowish-brown, mixed with reddish, and variegated transversely with black; scapulars without white longitudinal spots. Markings beneath clear pale brown, with dusky borders. Toes entirely bare. Head and neck deep buff, the throat not spotted. Hab. Prairies and plains of northern U. S., from Wisconsin and Illinois to Oregon …

var. columbianus.

[Plate: PLATE LX.

1. Pediœcetes columbianus. Missouri Plains, 4543. 2. Centrocercus urophasianus. ♂ Nebraska, 12561. 3. Pediœcetes phasianellus. Hudson’s Bay, 32319. 4. Centrocercus urophasianus. ♀ Nebraska, 11349.]

Pediœcetes phasianellus, var. phasianellus, ELLIOT.

SHARP-TAILED GROUSE.

Tetrao phasianellus, LINN. S. N. I, (ed. 10,) 1758, p. 160.—FORST. Phil. Trans. LXII, 1772, 394, 495.—GMEL.—LATH.—Bon. Comp. List.—SABINE.—EDWARDS.—RICHARDSON. Centrocercus p. G. R. GRAY, Cat. B. Brit. Mus.—BON. Compt. Rend.—? SWAINS. F. B. A. (in part?). Pediœcetes p. (not of BAIRD, Birds N. Am.)—ELLIOT, P. A. N. S. Philad. 1862, 402–404.—IB. Monog. Tetraoninæ, pl.—Murray, Edinb. Phil. J. 1859 (Trout Lake Station).—DALL & BANNISTER, Tr. Chicago Ac. I, 1869, 287.—GRAY, Cat. Brit. Mus. V, 1867, 88. Tetrao urogallus, var. β, LINN. S. N. I, (ed. 12,) 273. Pediœcetes kennicotti, SUCKLEY, P. A. N. S. Philad. 1861.

SP. CHAR. Prevailing colors, clear dusky-black above, and pure white beneath; no buff about the head. Upper parts variegated with transverse, rather zigzag, spots of yellowish-brown; scapulars with broad, elliptical, longitudinal medial spots of pure white; wing-coverts with large rounded, and outer webs of primaries with smaller and more quadrate, spots of pure white. Breast thickly covered with broad V-shaped, and the sides with less numerous sagittate, marks of uniform clear slaty or dusky. Legs densely feathered, the long hair-like feathers reaching beyond the claws, and completely hiding the toes. Throat thickly spotted with dusky. No appreciable differences in plumage between the sexes. Male (31,616, Fort Resolution, Dec. 1862; J. Lockhart). Wing, 8.60; tail, 4.50, the two middle feathers one inch longer.

HAB. British America, from Hudson’s Bay Territory, south to northern shore of Lake Superior, and west to Alaska and British Columbia.

HABITS. The Arctic form of the Sharp-tailed Grouse is found throughout the Arctic regions, from Alaska southward and eastward to an extent not fully ascertained. Mr. Dall states that this variety is not uncommon at Fort Yukon, where Mr. Lockhart found it breeding and obtained its eggs. It has also been seen some two hundred miles down the river, but it is said not to be found below the cañon known as the Ramparts. Captain Ketchum, in his adventurous winter trip from Nulato to Fort Yukon, is said to have killed several of these birds. Specimens are in the Smithsonian Museum from Moose Factory and elsewhere along the southern part of Hudson’s Bay, and it is said to be abundant about Nipigon Lake, north of Lake Superior.

Mr. Kennicott found the nest of this bird at Fort Yukon, at the foot of a clump of dwarf willows. It was in dry ground, and in a region in which these willows abounded and were quite thickly interspersed with other trees, especially small spruces, but no large growth. The nest is said to have been similar to that of Cupidonia cupido. Mr. Lockhart also found it breeding in the same region. The nests seen by him were likewise built on a rising ground under a few small willows.

Richardson assigns as the northern limit of this species the region of the Great Slave Lake, latitude 61°, and as its most southern point latitude 41°. It was found in abundance on the outskirts of the Saskatchewan plains and throughout the wooded districts of the fur countries, frequenting the open glades or low thickets on the borders of lakes, especially where the forests have been partially cleared; perching on trees in the winter, but keeping to the ground in the summer; and, at all seasons, met with in small flocks of from ten to sixteen. They are said, early in spring, to select some level place, where a covey meets every morning and runs round in a circle of about twenty feet in diameter, so that the grass is worn quite bare. If any one approaches this circle, the birds squat close to the ground; but if not alarmed by a too near approach, they soon stretch out their necks to survey the intruder, and resume their circular course, some running to the right and others to the left, meeting and crossing each other. These “partridge-dances” are said to last a month or more, or until the female begins to incubate. This Grouse rises from the ground with the usual whirring noise, and alights again at a distance of a few hundred yards, sometimes on the ground or on the branches of a tree. In winter they hide in the snow, and make their way with ease through the loose drifts, feeding on the buds of the willows, larches, aspens, etc. In summer and autumn their food is principally berries. They are said to lay about thirteen eggs early in June; the nest being on the ground, formed of grasses lined with feathers.

The eggs of this variety closely resemble those of the columbianus, but are generally of a decidedly darker ground. They average 1.75 inches in length by 1.28 in breadth. Their ground is a dark tawny-brown minutely dotted with darker spots of brown.

Pediœcetes phasianellus, var. columbianus, BAIRD.

COLUMBIA SHARP-TAIL.

Tetrao phasianellus, (not of LINN.,) ORD, Guthr. Geog. (2d Amer. ed.) II, 317, 1815.—NUTT.—AUD.—NEWB.—BON. Syn. and Am. Orn.—COOP. & SUCKL.—MAX. Cab. J. VI, 1858, 435. Centrocercus p. SWAINS. F. B. A.—BONAP. Comp. Rend. Pediœcetes p. BAIRD, Birds N. Am. 1858, 626. Phasianus columbianus, ORD, Guthr. Geog. (2d. Am. ed.) II, 317, 1815. Pediœcetes columbianus, ELLIOT, P. A. N. S. Philad. 1862, 403.—IB. Monog. Tetraoninæ.—COOPER, Orn. Cal. I, 1870, 532. Tetrao urophasianellus, DOUGL. Trans. Linn. Soc. XVI, 136, 1829.

SP. CHAR. Prevailing colors yellowish-brown and white; ground-color of head and neck deep buff. Upper parts variegated with transverse spots of black, and more or less tinged with rusty; scapulars without longitudinal spots of white; wing-coverts and outer webs of primaries with large conspicuous spots of pure white, the former roundish, the latter more quadrate. Breast and sides with V-shaped markings of pale yellowish-brown, bordered with dusky. Throat immaculate, or only minutely speckled; feathers of tarsus short, the toes completely bare. No appreciable difference between the sexes. Male (22,011 Simiahmoo, Washington Territory; Dr. Kennerly). Wing, 8.00; tail, 4.40, two middle feathers one inch longer. Female (19,173, Rose Brier Creek; F. V. Hayden)! Wing, 8.80; tail, 4.00.

HAB. Plains and prairies of the United States, from Illinois and Wisconsin, west to Oregon, Nevada, etc.; south to Colorado, New Mexico, etc.

HABITS. This species is the more southern of the two varieties of Sharp-tailed Grouse found in North America. Owing to the confusion which has existed until recently, in which both the northern and southern races have been considered as one, the geographical distribution of each may not be defined with complete exactness. The present form is found in Illinois and Wisconsin, and westward to Oregon and Washington Territory, and as far to the north as British Columbia and the southern portions of the Saskatchewan Valley.

Dr. Newberry found this Grouse associated with the Prairie Chicken on the prairies bordering on the Mississippi and the Missouri, and frequently confounded with that bird, though readily distinguishable by its lighter plumage, its speckled breast, and smaller size. It is always the least abundant of the two species, when found together. The range of this Grouse extends much farther westward; the cupido being limited to the valley of the Mississippi, while the former is found as far west as the valleys of California. North of San Francisco his party first found it on a prairie near Canoe Creek, fifty miles northeast of Fort Reading; subsequently, on a level grass-covered plain in the upper cañon of Pit River, these birds were met with in great abundance. They were also found about the Klamath Lakes and in the Des Chutes Basin, as far as the Dalles. The flesh was very much like that of the Prairie Chicken. This bird is said to lie close, and when flushed to fly off, uttering a constantly repeated kuck-kuck-kuck, moving with steadiness and considerable swiftness. It is, however, easily killed. The young birds are fat and tender, and as they fall on the grassy prairie scatter their feathers, as if torn to pieces.

According to Dr. Suckley, the Sharp-tailed Grouse entirely replaces the Pinnated Grouse in Washington Territory. He first noticed it near old Fort Union, at the mouth of the Yellowstone River. From that point to the Cascade Mountains of Oregon and Washington Territory it was exceedingly abundant wherever there was open country and a sufficiency of food. In certain places they were in great numbers in the autumn, congregating in large flocks, especially in the vicinity of patches of wild rye, and more recently near settlements where there were wheat-stubbles. They resemble the Pinnated Grouse in habits. Where they are numerous, they may frequently be found, on cold mornings in the autumn or early winter, perched on fences or on leafless trees, sunning themselves in the early sunlight. At Fort Dalles a young bird, scarcely two days old, was found on the first of April. This early incubation seems to prove that they must have more than one brood in a season. The young Grouse was confided to the charge of a Hen with a brood of young chickens; but it refused to associate with them, and escaped, probably to perish of cold. Dr. Cooper adds that this Grouse is found in Washington Territory only in the low alluvial prairies of the streams emptying into the Columbia east of the Cascade Mountains, where it was found in flocks of several hundreds. They shun high grounds and forests entirely. The only cry he ever heard them utter was a cackle when suddenly started from the ground. Their wings make a loud whirring, as among others of this family.

Mr. J. K. Lord found this species abundantly distributed on the western slope of the Rocky Mountains, ranging right and left of the 49th parallel. It was particularly numerous on the plains near the Kootanie River, round the Osoyoos Lakes, and in the valley of the Columbia. He did not meet with any on the western side of the Cascade Range. It is also found in the Red River settlements and in Northern Minnesota.

Mr. Elliot is quite in error in stating that this Grouse does not occur east of the Mississippi as it is found nearly throughout Northern Illinois and Southern Wisconsin. I have seen a flock within thirty miles of Chicago, and have from time to time had their eggs from Dane County, Wisconsin.

Mr. Lord regards this Grouse as remarkable both for its field qualities—such as lying well to a dog, rising with a loud rattling whir, frequenting open grassy prairies, and flying as straight as an arrow—and for its excellence as a table dainty. For delicacy of flavor its flesh is unequalled. With the fur-traders this species is known as the Spotted Chicken, and is, furthermore, the Skis-kin of the Kootanie Indians. Its singular combination of colors—white, black, and brownish-yellow—makes it exactly resemble the ground on which it lives, and admirably harmonizes with the dead twigs and leaves of the artemisia, the dry and sandy soil, the brown of the withered bunch-grass, and the sombre-colored lichens of the rocks. It often requires a keen and practised eye to distinguish one of these birds from the ground on which it has fallen, even though the eye be kept on the spot where it was seen to fall. This similarity of colors with those of the prairie no doubt effectually conceals them from the hawks and owls.

Its favorite haunt is on open grassy plains in the morning, keeping concealed in the long thick grass, coming about midday to the stream to drink, and to dust itself in the sandy banks. It seldom goes into the timber, always remains close to the prairie, and never retires into the depth of the forests. It lays its eggs on the open prairie in a tuft of grass, or near the foot of a small hillock, nesting early in spring, and depositing from twelve to fourteen eggs. The nest is a mere hole scratched in the earth, with a few grass-stalks and root-fibres laid carelessly and loosely over the bottom. Mr. Lord describes the eggs as of a dark rusty-brown, with small splashes or speckles of darker brown thickly spattered over them.

After nesting-time they appear in broods about the middle of August, the young birds being about two thirds grown. At this time they frequent the margins of small streams where there is thin timber and underbrush. After the middle of September they begin to pack, two or three coveys getting together, and flock after flock joining until they accumulate into hundreds. On the first appearance of snow they begin to perch on the dead branches of a pine or on the tops of fences. Near Fort Colville, after snow fell, they assembled in vast numbers in the large wheat-stubbles. They became wary and shy, the snow rendering every moving thing so conspicuous that it was next to impossible for dogs to hunt them.

The food of this Grouse consists principally of berries in the summer months, such as the snowberry, the bearberry, the haws of the wild rose, and the whortleberry, grain, the larvæ of insects, grass-seeds, etc. In the winter they run over the snow with ease and celerity, dig holes in it, and burrow underneath in the manner of a Ptarmigan. During the two winters Mr. Lord spent at Colville, flocks of these birds congregated around the hayricks at their mule-camp. In a temperature often 30° and more below zero, and the snow several feet deep, they were strong, fat, and wild, and did not appear to suffer at all from the intense cold. Indeed, they are said to pair very early in the spring, long before the snow has gone off the ground, and their meeting is preceded by some very singular performances, which are called by the fur-traders chicken-dances, to several of which Mr. Lord was an eyewitness. Groups of these birds assemble for their dances either about sunrise or late in the afternoon, selecting for the purpose a high round-topped mound, which in the course of their evolutions becomes worn quite bare. At one of the dances witnessed by Mr. Lord there were about twenty birds present; the birds nearest him were head to head, like gamecocks in fighting attitude,—the neck-feathers ruffed up, the little sharp tail elevated straight on end, the wings dropped close to the ground, but keeping up a rapid vibration or continued drumming sound. They circled round and round each other in slow waltzing time, always maintaining the same attitude, but never striking at each other. Sometimes the pace increased, and one pursued the other until the latter faced about. Others jumped about two feet in the air until out of breath, and then strutted about in a peculiar manner; and others went marching about with tails and heads as high up as they could get them.

Captain Blakiston states that on the Saskatchewan this species was very generally distributed throughout the interior. He met with it just below the forks of the Saskatchewan, and traced it to the western base of the Rocky Mountains. He found it breeding at Fort Carlton. He regards these birds as of polygamous habits. In the fall they are found in families, in the semi-wooded country bordering on the prairies. They perch on trees, frequently at the very top, and their crops are found stuffed out with berries. These are chiefly the fruit of the bearberry, the ground juniper, the snowberry, the small prairie roses, the buffalo-berry, and several kinds of buds. They have also been known to feed on caterpillars and other insects baked and crisped by prairie fires. Captain Blakiston was also an eyewitness of one of the singular love-performances of these birds, known as dances. His account of it, which is very full, is almost exactly in correspondence with the account referred to as given by Mr. Lord.

Mr. Ridgway met with this Grouse at one locality only, encountering them late in September in the Upper Humboldt Valley. There it was found in considerable numbers in the rye-grass meadows on the foot-slopes of the Clover Mountains. They were startled from the ground, where they were hidden in the grass, and when surprised frequently took refuge in the willow-thickets along the streams near by. Their flesh was found to be most excellent.

The eggs of this species vary considerably in size, but average about 1.80 inches in length and 1.30 in breadth. They are oval in shape, slightly pointed at one end. Their ground varies from a light clay to a dark rusty-brown, generally plain, but frequently speckled minutely with fine dottings of a darker brown.

GENUS CUPIDONIA, REICHENBACH.

Cupidonia, REICHENBACH, Av. Syst. Nat. 1850, p. xxix. (Type, Tetrao cupido, L.)

GEN. CHAR. Tail of eighteen feathers, short, half the lengthened wings; the feathers stiffened and more or less graduated. Bare inflatable air-sac of the neck concealed by a tuft of long, stiff lanceolate feathers; an inconspicuous crest on the vertex. Tarsi feathered only to near the base, the lower joint scutellate. Culmen between the nasal fossæ scarcely one third the total length.

This genus, as far as known, is entirely peculiar to North America, where but one species, with two races, is known.

Species and Varieties.

=C. cupido.= Ground-color above yellowish-brown, tinged with grayish and reddish; beneath white; whole upper and lower parts variegated with transverse bands,—those beneath regular, broad, sharply defined, and plain dusky-brown, those above more broken, broader, and deep black. Head buff, with a broad vertical stripe, a broad one beneath the eye from bill to ears, and a patch on lower side of auriculars, brownish-black.

Tarsi clothed with long hair-like feathers, the bare posterior face entirely hidden. Dark bars above, .30 or more in width, deep black; those beneath, about .20 wide, and dark brown. Top of head nearly uniformly blackish; face-stripes dusky-black. Bill, .40 deep, .50 long; wing, 9.00. Hab. Prairies of the Mississippi Valley; south to Louisiana; formerly eastward to Long Island and Pennsylvania …

var. cupido.

Tarsi clothed with short feathers, the bare posterior face conspicuously exposed. Dark bars above less than .20 in width, dark grayish-brown; those beneath about .10 wide, and pale grayish-brown. Top of head with only a slight spotting of blackish; face-markings reddish-brown. Bill, .35 deep, .55 long, from nostril; wing, 8.30. Hab. Southwestern Prairies (Texas?) …

var. pallidicinctus.

[Plate: PLATE LXI.

1. Cupidonia cupido. Ad., 17045. 2. Cyrtonyx massena. Juv., 37292. 3. Bonasa umbellus. Juv., 61949. 4. Lophortyx californicus. Juv., Cal., 12591. 5. Canace canadensis. Juv., Maine. 6. Centrocercus urophasianus. Juv., 38551. 7. Cupidonia cupido. Juv., 25989. 8. Lagopus albus. Juv., 44631. 9. Bonasa umbellus. Ad., D. C., 12568. 10. Bonasa umbelloides. Ad., Rocky Mts., 11394.]

Cupidonia cupido, var. cupido, BAIRD.

PRAIRIE HEN; PRAIRIE CHICKEN; PINNATED GROUSE.

Tetrao cupido, LINN. Syst. Nat. I, 1758, 160.—GM. I, 751.—LATH. Ind. Orn. II, 1790.—WILSON, Am. Orn. III, 1811, 104, pl. xxvii.—BON. Mon. Tetrao, Am. Phil. Trans. III, 1830, 392.—NUTTALL, Man. I, 662.—AUD. Orn. Biog. II, 1834, 490; V, 1839, 559, pl. clxxxvi.—IB. Birds Amer. V, 1842, 93, pl. ccxcxvi.—KOCH, Wiegmann’s Archiv, 1836, I, 159.—MAX. Cab. J. VI, 1858, 439. Bonasa cupido, STEPHENS, Shaw’s Gen. Zoöl. XI, 299.—GRAY, Cat. Brit. Mus. V, 1867, 88. Cupidonia americana, REICH. Av. Syst. Nat. 1850, p. xxix.—BONAP. Comptes Rendus, XLV, 1857, 428. Cupidonia cupido, BAIRD, Birds N. Am. 1858, 628.—ELLIOT, P. A. N. S. 1864.—IB. Monog. Tetraon. pl.—DRESSER, Ibis, 1866, 26 (Brownsville, Texas).—MAYNARD, B. E. Mass. 1870, 138 (Martha’s Vineyard, and Naushon Island, Mass.)

SP. CHAR. Male (10,006, Tremont, Illinois; W. I. Shaw). Ground-color above ochraceous-brown, tinged with grayish; beneath white, the feathers of the jugulum dark rusty-chestnut beneath the surface. Head mostly deep buff. Upper parts much broken by broad transverse spots, or irregular bars, of deep black, this color predominating largely over the lighter tints. Primaries and tail plain dusky; the former with roundish spots of pale ochraceous on outer webs, the latter very narrowly tipped with white. Lower parts with regular, continuous, sharply defined broad bars, or narrow bands, of clear dusky-brown. A broad stripe of plain brownish-black on side of head, beneath the eye, from rictus to end of auriculars; a blotch of the same beneath the middle of the auriculars, and the top of the head mostly blackish, leaving a broad superciliary and maxillary stripe, and the whole throat immaculate buff. Neck-tufts 3.50 inches long, deep black; the longer ones uniform, the shorter with only the edge black, the whole middle portion pale buff, shading into deep reddish-rusty next to the black. Wing, 9.00; tail, 4.50; bill, .40 deep by .50 long, from nostril; tarsus, 2.10; middle toe, 1.85. Female similar, but with shorter and inconspicuous cervical tufts. Young (25,998, Rockford, Illinois; Blackman). Above, including tail, yellowish-brown; feathers with conspicuous white shaft-streaks and large blotches of deep black. Outer webs of primaries with whitish spots. Top of head rusty-brown with a black vertical and a dusky auricular patch. Lower parts yellowish-white, with irregularly defined, transverse, grayish-brown broad bars; anteriorly more spotted, the jugulum tinged with brown.

Chick (25,989, Rockford, Ill.). Bright lemon-buff, tinged on sides and jugulum with reddish; upper parts much washed with rusty. A narrow auricular streak, blotches on the vertex and occiput, a stripe across the shoulder, and blotches down the middle of the back and rump, deep black.

HAB. Prairies of the Mississippi Valley, from Louisiana, northward. East to Pocono Mountains, Pennsylvania. Formerly along the eastern coast of the United States from Long Island to Cape Cod, or farther. A few still left on Naushon (?) and Martha’s Vineyard.

A pair from Calcasieu Pass, Louisiana, most resemble Illinois specimens, but are smaller (wing, 8.60, instead of 9.00), and there is rather more reddish, with less black, in the plumage.

HABITS. The Pinnated Grouse, more generally known through the country as the Prairie Chicken or Prairie Hen, once occurred as far to the east as Massachusetts, a few still remaining on the island of Martha’s Vineyard, and where it was, in the early settlement of the country, a very abundant bird; and to the southwest to Texas and throughout the Indian Territory, where it appears to be extending with the areas developed by civilization. While at the East this bird has almost entirely disappeared, in consequence of the increase of population, and except here and there in a few small and distant districts has disappeared from the Middle and Eastern States, at the West and Southwest it has greatly extended its distribution, appearing in considerable numbers, and constantly increasing as the country is settled and the land cultivated with grain. Even in Illinois, where there has been a large increase of population during the past ten years, these birds are known to have become much more numerous. It is, however, probable that they will again be driven from this region when the population becomes quite dense. Mr. Allen met with this species in several points in Kansas and in Colorado, where they had either just made their appearance, or where they had recently been noticed, and were observed to be on the increase. The small remnants left in Massachusetts are protected by law, which may preserve them a few years longer; and in Illinois and other Western States stringent provisions seek to prevent their wanton destruction. In Michigan, according to Mr. D. D. Hughes, this Grouse is common in the two southern tiers of counties, but is rarely met with in that State farther north,—an absence attributable to the want of open country and suitable food, as west of Lake Michigan it is found in great abundance much farther north. In the more southern portion of the State it is already very rare, and in localities completely exterminated.

Dr. Woodhouse found this bird quite abundant throughout the Indian Territory; more numerous, however, in the vicinity of settlements. During the fall of 1849, as he was passing down the Arkansas River, along the road leading from Fort Gibson to Fort Smith, these birds were in large flocks, feeding among the oaks upon the acorns; hundreds were to be seen at the same time. It was also very common throughout Eastern Texas.

Mr. Dresser found the Pinnated Grouse very common in travelling from Brownsville to Victoria, after leaving the chaparral and entering the prairie country. Throughout the whole of the prairie country of Texas it is abundant.

They were found by Mr. Audubon especially abundant in the States of Kentucky, Missouri, Illinois, and Indiana, where his observations date back more than half a century, and when the country was comparatively unsettled. It was there, he states, in what was then known as the Barrens of Kentucky, that before sunrise, or at the close of the day, he “heard its curious boomings, witnessed its obstinate battles, watched it during the progress of its courtships, noted its nest and eggs, and followed its young until, fully grown, they betook themselves to winter quarters.”

When he first removed to Kentucky the Pinnated Grouse were so plentiful, and were held in such low estimation, that no hunter deigned to shoot them. They were, moreover, looked upon with ill-favor by the inhabitants on account of the mischief they committed among the fruit-trees of the orchards during winter, when they fed upon the buds, or in the spring, when they consumed the grain in the fields. In those days, in the winter, this Grouse would enter the farm-yard and feed among the poultry, would even alight on the house-tops or walk in the streets of the villages. On one occasion he caught several alive in a stable at Henderson, where they had followed some Wild Turkeys. Twenty-five years later, Mr. Audubon adds, in the same country where they had been so very abundant, scarcely one could be found. Mr. Audubon speaks of their selling in Eastern markets, in 1840, at from five to ten dollars per pair. This is so no longer, facilities in railroad transportation and their continued abundance at the West rendering them a comparatively plentiful and cheap article of food.

Mr. Audubon mentions that at the same period they were still to be met with in some portions of New Jersey, in the “brushy” plains of Long Island, on Mount Desert Island in the State of Maine, and also in another tract of barren country near Mar’s Hill in the same State. In regard to the two last-named localities he may have been misinformed.

Mr. Lawrence mentions this species as still occurring in the vicinity of New York City. Mr. Turnbull mentioned it as now very rare, but occasionally met with, in the counties of Monroe and Northampton in Pennsylvania, and on the plains in New Jersey. It is not referred to by either Professor Verrill or Mr. Boardman as occurring in any part of Maine. It is, however, given by Mr. McIlwraith as an occasional visitor near Hamilton, in Canada, on the western frontier, a few individuals being occasionally observed along the banks of the St. Clair River, but not known to occur farther east.

Mr. Audubon also mentions having found these birds abundant in all the vast plains bordering on the prairies of the Arkansas River, and on those of the Opelousas in Louisiana.

In the earliest days of spring, even before the snows have all been melted, these birds no longer keep in large flocks, but separate into smaller parties, and the mating-season commences, during which their manners, especially those of the male, are very peculiar and striking. A particular locality is selected, to which they resort until incubation has commenced. The males meet in this place, and engage in furious battle with one another. At this season they are especially conspicuous for their great pomposity of bearing; with tails outspread and inclined forward to meet the expanded feathers of their neck, and with the globular, orange-colored, bladder-like receptacles of air on their necks distended to their utmost capacity, and issuing a peculiar sound, spoken of as booming, these birds strut about in the presence of one another with various manifestations of jealous dislike and animosity, soon ending in furious contests. Their wings are declined, in the manner of the Cock-Turkey, and rustle on the ground as the birds pass and repass in a rapid manner; their bodies are depressed, and their notes indicate their intense excitement. Upon the appearance of a female answering to their calls, they at once engage in their desperate encounters. They rise in the air and strike at one another in the manner of a gamecock, and several engage in a miscellaneous scrimmage, until the weaker give way, and, one after another, seek refuge in the neighboring bushes, the few remaining victors discontinuing their contests as if from sheer exhaustion.

The “booming” or “tooting” sounds made by these birds is heard before daybreak, and also at all hours before sunset, in places where they are abundant and tame; but where they are rare and wild they are seldom heard after sunrise, and their meetings then are in silence. Even in the fall the young males evince their natural pugnacity by engaging in short battles, which their parents usually interrupt and put a stop to.

This bird nests, according to the locality in which it is met with, from the beginning of April to the last of May. In Kentucky, Mr. Audubon has found their nests with eggs early in April, but the average period there was the first of May. Their nests he describes as somewhat carelessly formed of dry leaves and grasses, interwoven in a tolerably neat manner, and always very carefully placed among the tall grass of some large tuft in the open ground of the prairies, or, in barren lands, at the foot of a small bush.

The eggs are said to be from eight to twelve in number, never more; they are larger and more spherical than those of the common umbellus, and are of a darker shade. The female sits upon them about twenty days, and as soon as the young can extricate themselves from the shell the mother leads them away, the male having previously left her.

Early in the fall the various broods begin again to associate together, and at the approach of winter it is not uncommon to see them in flocks of several hundred individuals.

The young broods, when come upon suddenly and taken by surprise, instantly scatter and squat close to the ground, so that, without a dog, it is impossible to find them. The mother gives a single loud chuck as a signal of danger, and the young birds rise on the wing and fly a few yards in different directions, and then keep themselves perfectly still and quiet until the mother recalls them by a signal indicating that the peril has passed. In the meanwhile she resorts to various devices to draw the intruder away from the place.

This Grouse raises but a single brood in a season; and if the first laying has been destroyed or taken, the female seeks out her mate, makes another nest, and produces another set of eggs. These are usually smaller in size and less in number than those of her first laying.

The Pinnated Grouse is said to be easily tamed, and may be readily domesticated, though I do not know that the experiment has been thoroughly tried. Mr. Audubon once kept sixty of them in a garden near Henderson, Ky. Within a week they became tame enough to allow him to approach them without being frightened. He supplied them with abundance of corn and other food. In the course of the winter they became so gentle as to feed from the hand, and walked about his garden like so many tame fowl, mingling occasionally with the poultry. In the spring they strutted, “tooted,” and fought as if in their wild state. Many eggs were deposited, and a number of young birds were hatched out; but they proved so destructive to the vegetables that the experiment was given up and the Grouse were killed. The male birds were conspicuous for their courage, and would engage in contest with the Turkey-cocks, and even with the dunghill cock, rather than yield the ground.

In severe weather these birds have been known to roost in trees, but they generally prefer to rest on the ground. Advantage is sometimes taken to secure them by visiting their resting-places in the night with nets. On the ground they walk somewhat in the manner of the common Hen, but in a more erect attitude. When surprised, they rise with a whirring sound; but if they perceive the approach of any one at a sufficient distance, they run off with considerable speed, and hide by squatting in the grass or among bushes. They are fond of dusting themselves in ploughed fields or in dusty roads, rearranging their feathers in the manner of the Wild Turkey.

When the female, with her young brood, is surprised, she instantly ruffles up her feathers, and acts as if she contemplated flying in your face; this she rarely, if ever, attempts, but resorts to various artifices to decoy the intruder away.

Their flight is said to be strong, regular, and swift, and may be protracted to the distance of several miles. It is less rapid than that of the umbellus, and the whirring, as they rise from the ground, less conspicuous. As they rise, they utter four or five very distinct clucks, but at times fly in silence.

Their flesh is dark, and the flavor is very distinctly gamy, and is generally regarded as excellent.

In the love-season the males inflate the two remarkable air-bladders, which, in color and shape, resemble small oranges, lower their heads to the ground, open their bills, and give utterance to very singular and distinctly separated notes, by means of the air contained in these receptacles, rolling somewhat in the manner of the beatings of a muffled drum. The air-reservoirs are alternately filled and emptied as they make these sounds. Their notes may be heard to the distance of nearly a mile. When these skins are punctured, they are no longer resonant.

The late Mr. David Eckby, of Boston, furnished Mr. Audubon with a full account of their habits, as observed by him in Martha’s Vineyard, and also on the island of Nashawena, where they were then kept in a preserve. They were observed never to settle down where the woods were thick or the bushes tangled, but invariably in the open spaces; and as they never start up from the thick foliage, but always seek to disengage themselves from all embarrassment in their flight by reaching the nearest open space, they offer to the sportsman a very fair mark. The sound they utter in rising, when hard pressed, is said to resemble the syllables coo-coo-coo. They were observed to feed on the berries of the barberry, which abound on those islands, boxberries, cranberries, the buds of roses, pines, and alders, and on the nuts of the post-oaks, and in the summer upon the more esculent berries. At the West they frequently feed on the seeds of the sumach. They are also very destructive to the buds of the apple, and are very fond of the fruit of the fox-grape and the leaves and berries of the mistletoe. During the planting-season their visits to the wheat and corn fields are often productive of great damage.

Three eggs in my collection, taken from a nest near Osage Village, in Indian Territory, which contained sixteen eggs, measure, one 1.65 by 1.20 inches, another 1.63 by 1.28, and the third 1.75 by 1.28 inches. They are of a rounded-oval shape, more obtuse at one end than the other, and of a uniform color, which varies from a light clay-color to a dark tawny-brown. The eggs are sometimes, but not always, minutely sprinkled with brown.

Cupidonia cupido, var. pallidicinctus, RIDGWAY.

THE TEXAS PRAIRIE HEN.

Cupidonia cupido, var. pallidicinctus, RIDGWAY.

SP. CHAR. Similar to var. cupido, but above nearly equally barred with pale grayish-ochraceous and dusky or blackish-brown. Beneath white, with faint, but sharply defined, narrow bars of pale grayish-brown. Top of head with light bars prevailing; head-stripes reddish-brown. Male (10,007, Prairies of Texas, Staked Plains?; Capt. J. Pope, U. S. A.). Wing, 8.30; tail, 4.20; tarsus, 1.70; middle toe, 1.50. Female (10,005, same locality, etc.). Wing, 8.20.

HAB. Southwestern Prairies (Staked Plains, Texas?).

In its relations with the C. cupido, this race bears a direct analogy to Pediœcetes columbianus, as compared with P. phasianellus, and to Ortyx texanus, as distinguished from O. virginianus. Thus in a much less development of the tarsal feathers it agrees with the southern Pediœcetes, while in paler, grayer colors, and smaller size, it is like the southwestern Ortyx.

GENUS BONASA, STEPHENS.

Bonasa, STEPHENS, Shaw’s Gen. Zoöl. XI, 1819. (Type, _Tetrao bonasia_, L.) Tetrastes, KEYS. & BLAS. Wirb. Europ. 1840, p. lxiv.

GEN. CHAR. Tail widening to the end, its feathers very broad, as long as the wings; the feathers soft, and eighteen in number. Tarsi naked in the lower half; covered with two rows of hexagonal scales anteriorly, as in the Ortyginæ. Sides of toes strongly pectinated. Naked space on the side of throat covered by a tuft of broad soft feathers. Portion of culmen between the nasal fossæ about one third the total length. Top of head with a soft crest.

This genus, in its partly naked tarsi, with two rows of scutellæ anteriorly, indicates a close approach to the American Partridges, or Quails. It has a single European representative, the B. sylvestris, Steph.

Species and Varieties.

=B. umbellus.= Rump with cordate light spots; sides with transverse dark spots. Tail with two gray bands (one terminal), with a broad blackish zone between them. Cervical tufts glossy black or dark brown, with a semi-metallic steel-blue or green border.

Prevailing color bright ochraceous-rufous; tail always rufous in the Middle and Southern States, occasionally gray on the Alleghany Mountains, and in New England States; usually gray in Eastern British America. Hab. Eastern Province of North America …

var. umbellus.

Prevailing color bluish-ashy; tail always pale ash. Hab. Rocky Mountains of United States, and interior regions of British America, to the Yukon …

var. umbelloides.

Prevailing color dark ferruginous; tail always dark ferruginous near the coast, occasionally dark gray in mountainous regions. Hab. Northwest coast region (Oregon, Washington, British Columbia, etc.) …

var. sabini.

The above synopsis is intended to present in the simplest form the characteristic features of the three definable races of this exceedingly variable species, as exhibited in a light rusty rufous-tailed form of the Atlantic States, a pale gray ashy-tailed form of the Rocky Mountains of the United States and British America, and a dark rusty rufous-tailed form of the northwest coast region. These three, when based on specimens from the regions where their characters are most exaggerated and uniform, appear sufficiently distinct; but when we find that specimens from the New England States have the rufous bodies of umbellus and gray tails of umbelloides, and that examples from Eastern Oregon and Washington Territory have the dark rusty bodies of sabini and gray tails of umbelloides, and continue to see that the transition between any two of the three forms is gradual with the locality, we are unavoidably led to the conclusion that they are merely geographical modifications of one species. The continuity of the dark subterminal tail-band in umbellus, and its interruption in umbelloides,—characters on which great stress is laid by Mr. Elliot in his monograph, above cited,—we find to be contradicted by the large series which we have examined; neither condition seems to be the rule in either race, but the character proves to be utterly unreliable.

In the less elevated and more southern portions of the Eastern Province of the United States, as in the Mississippi Valley and the States bordering the Gulf and South Atlantic, the rufous type is prevalent; the tail being always, so far as the specimens we have seen indicate, of an ochraceous-rufous tint. Specimens with gray tails first occur on the Alleghany Mountains, and become more common in the New England States, the specimens from Maine having nearly all gray tails. Specimens from Labrador approach still nearer the var. umbelloides,—the extreme gray condition,—and agree with Alaskan specimens in having more brown than those from the interior portions of British America or the Rocky Mountains of the United States. More northern specimens of the inland form have, again, a greater amount of white than those from the south or coastward. Passing southward from Alaska toward Oregon, specimens become darker, until, in the dense humid forests of the region of the Columbia, a very dark plumage, with little or no gray, prevails, most similar to, but even more reddish and much darker, than the style of the Southern States of the Eastern Province. Passing from the low coast forests to those of the mountains, we find again equally dark specimens, but with grayish tails; the amount of gray increasing, and its shade lightening, as we approach the central Rocky Mountains.

The American species of Bonasa possesses a quite near analogue in the B. sylvestris, Bonap. (Tetrao bonasia, Linn.), or Hazel Grouse, of Europe. This species has almost exactly the same pattern of coloration (including tail-markings), but is very much smaller, has the neck-tufts rudimentary and white, and the throat black, instead of just the reverse.

Bonasa umbellus, var. umbellus, STEPHENS.

RUFFED GROUSE; PARTRIDGE; PHEASANT.

Tetrao umbellus, LINN. Syst. Nat. I, 1766, 275, 6.—WILSON, Am. Orn. VI, 1812, 46, pl. xlix.—DOUGHTY, Cab. N. H. I, 1830, 13, pl. ii.—AUD. Orn. Biog. I, 1831, 211; V, 560, pl. xli.—IB. Birds Amer. V, 1842, 72, pl. ccxciii. Tetrao (Bonasia) umbellus, BONAP. Syn. 1828, 126.—IB. Mon. Tetrao, Am. Phil. Trans. III, 1830, 389.—NUTTALL, Man. I, 1832, 657. Bonasa umbellus, STEPHENS, Shaw, Gen. Zoöl. XI, 1824, 300.—BONAP. Comptes Rendus, XLV, 1857, 428.—BAIRD, Birds N. Am. 1858, 630.—ELLIOT, Monog. Tetr. pl.—GRAY, Cat. Brit. Mus. V, 1867, 89. Tetrao togatus, LINN. I, 1766, 275, 8.—FORSTER, Philos. Trans. LXII, 1772, 393. Tetrao tympanus, BARTRAM, Travels in E. Florida, 1791, 290. Ruffed Grouse, and Shoulder-knot Grouse, PENNANT & LATHAM.

SP. CHAR. Above ochraceous-brown, finely mottled with grayish; the scapulars and wing-coverts with pale shaft-streaks, the rump and upper tail-coverts with medial cordate spots of pale grayish. Tail ochraceous-rufous, narrowly barred with black, crossed terminally with a narrow band of pale ash, then a broader one of black, this preceded by another ashy one. (In specimens from the Alleghany Mountains and New England States, the tail usually more or less grayish to the base, sometimes entirely destitute of rufous tinge.) Throat and foreneck ochraceous. Lower parts white (ochraceous beneath the surface), with broad transverse bars of dilute brown, these mostly concealed on the abdomen. Lower tail-coverts pale ochraceous, each with a terminal deltoid spot of white, bordered with dusky. Neck-tufts brownish-black. Length, 18.00; wing, 7.20; tail, 7.00. Female smaller, and with the neck-tufts less developed, but colors similar. Young (39,161, St. Stephen’s, N. B.; G. A. Boardman). Brown above, and dingy-white beneath; a rufous tinge on the scapulars. Feathers of the jugulum, back, scapulars, and wing-coverts with broad medial streaks of light ochraceous, and black spots on the webs; jugulum with a strong buff tinge. Secondaries and wing-coverts strongly mottled transversely. Head dingy buff, the upper part more rusty; a post-ocular or auricular dusky patch, and a tuft of dusky feathers on the vertex. Chick. Above light rufous, beneath rusty-white; uniform above and below; a dusky post-ocular streak, inclining downwards across the auriculars. Bill whitish.

HAB. Eastern Province of North America; in the northeastern portions (New England, Labrador) and Alleghany Mountains inclining toward var. umbellus in having a gray tail.

HABITS. This well-known bird—the common Birch Partridge of the British Provinces, the Partridge of New England and the West, and the Pheasant of the Middle States—is found throughout the wooded portions of eastern North America, from Georgia to Nova Scotia, and from the Atlantic to the Rocky Mountains. Richardson, in his description of its habits in the Fauna Boreali-Americana, states that he met with it as far north as the 56th parallel of latitude, and mentions, in a note, that Mr. Drummond procured specimens on the sources of the Peace River, in the valley of the Rocky Mountains, in no wise different from those taken on the Saskatchewan. On the banks of the latter river it was found very plentiful, frequenting the horse-paths and the cleared spaces about the forts. In winter, when the ground was covered with snow, it occurred in flocks of ten or twelve, perching on trees. These flocks could be approached without difficulty, and several birds successively shot from the same tree without exciting the alarm of the survivors, if the lowest were shot first. When disturbed, like most Grouse they flew off very swiftly, with a loud whirring sound, and to a considerable distance before alighting. The male in spring makes a very singular loud noise, resembling the quick roll of a drum, which is produced by rapid strokes of the wings, and which may be heard to quite a distance. In the mating-season the male struts about in the presence of the female, in the manner of a Turkey-cock, its wings drooping, its tail erected, and its ruffs displayed.

This Grouse is a constant resident in the district in which it occurs, and, as a general rule, is in no sense migratory, though it is stated by Audubon that in some regions where they are very abundant they perform partial sorties at the approach of autumn. These only occur in mountainous regions in which during the winter months there is an insufficiency of food. These movements have been noticed on the banks of the Ohio and the Susquehanna Rivers. Their journeys occur in the month of October, when they are in the best condition for the table, and they are much sought after. In the spring, those which have escaped return to the regions from which they migrated. Mr. Audubon states that in October, 1820, he observed a large number moving from the States of Ohio, Indiana, and Illinois into Kentucky, many of which were shot, and taken to the Cincinnati market.

This Grouse is found wherever wooded country is to be met with, and is especially fond of the craggy sides of mountains and hills, and the borders of rivers and small streams. They also often occur in considerable numbers in low lands, and were discovered by Mr. Audubon breeding in the thickest cane-brakes of Indiana and Kentucky.

They find in these wooded regions at once the means of food and shelter. In these localities they breed, and there they may usually be seen at all seasons of the year. They are thus to be met with in nearly all the Southern States, being abundant in the Carolinas, in Kentucky, Tennessee, and Mississippi, as far to the southwest as Natchez. They are not known to occur in any part of Louisiana. Dr. Newberry did not encounter this bird within the limits of California, but found them very abundant in the wooded portions of the Cascade Mountains and in the Willamette Valley. The Oregon specimens were generally darker than the eastern varieties, but the habits were apparently everywhere the same.

In many important respects the habits of this bird appear to be essentially different from those of the Pinnated Grouse. Unlike that species, it is rarely met with on open plains. Though the food of the two species appears to be very similar, this peculiarity and difference of abode is quite striking. This is more noticeable at the South than in the more northern and western portions of the country, where, however, this species seems to seek, and the cupido to avoid, the wooded sections.

They differ, also, in their more solitary disposition, being never seen in groups of more than four or five, and rarely other than singly or in pairs. Wilson observed, while travelling among the mountains of Pennsylvania, that these birds left the woods early in the morning to seek the open path or road to pick up gravel or to glean among the droppings of the horses, and he was thus enabled to supply himself without leaving the path. On the ground they were observed to move with great stateliness, spreading out their broad fan-like tails.

The flight of this Grouse is low, straightforward, and rarely protracted more than a few hundred yards at a time. It is somewhat stiff, and performed with frequent, almost continual, beatings of its wings. When it is flushed from its nest, or is suddenly startled from the ground by a dog, it rises with a loud whirring sound, which noise, however, is not made when the bird rises of its own accord. Its movements on the ground are very stately and graceful, except when it is approached too near, when it runs in a rapid manner, lowers its head, and spreads its tail, and either seeks shelter or takes to flight. When it hides in the bushes, it usually squats and remains close. They are difficult birds to shoot on the wing, the more so that they make sudden and unexpected changes in the direction of their flight. When they light on a tree, they are more readily followed and shot. The prevalent notion that, where several of these birds are in the same tree, several may be procured if you are careful to shoot the lowest one each time, was not verified by Mr. Audubon’s experience.

The love-season of the Partridge commences early in March, and is indicated by the drumming of male birds. This sound is produced by the male bird only, who, standing on a fallen log or on an elevated rock in the most retired portion of the woods, lowers his wings, expands his tail, contracts his neck, and seems to inflate his whole body. The tufts of feathers on either side of the neck are elevated, and the bird struts and wheels about in the most pompous manner possible to imagine. After manœuvring in this manner for some time, he begins to strike the sides of his own body with his stiffened wings with short and rapid strokes. These become more and more rapid, until the noise they produce seems continuous. These sounds may be heard at all hours of the day, but more generally early in the morning. The sound thus produced has generally been compared to that produced by beating together two distended bladders. But this gives one a very inadequate idea of the rolling, reverberating, ventriloquistic noise which these birds thus occasion. It is more like the distant and closing reverberations caused by remote thunder, and seems to the listener much nearer than it really is. It may be imitated in several ways, so as even to deceive the bird, and to bring him, in a fatal impulse of jealousy, to the shot of the sportsman.

In the spring these birds feed on the buds of several kinds of trees, especially the birches. In Maine they are particularly fond of the buds of the black birch, which gives to their flesh a peculiar and very agreeable flavor, and from this in certain localities they are known as the Birch Partridge. They also feed largely on the esculent berries of the summer, as raspberries, blueberries, and huckleberries, and in the fall become plump and fat, and are esteemed a great delicacy.

Mr. Audubon states that, as this bird rises from the ground, it utters a cackling note, which it repeats six or seven times, and then emits a lisping whistle, like the cry of some young bird, which is rather remarkable. When the ground is covered by a fall of light snow, these birds dive into it and conceal themselves, sometimes burrowing through it to the depth of several feet. When pursued, they frequently escape in this manner. Many are taken under the snow; others are snared by nooses, or by means of figure of four traps.

This Grouse is more or less polygamous, and both sexes are somewhat promiscuous in their intercourse. The males only remain with the females until incubation has commenced, and then keep by themselves, unless recalled by the females when their eggs have been taken or destroyed. The males occasionally indulge in severe contests for the possession of the female, but not to the same extent as with the Pinnated Grouse.

The female places her nest in some retired spot, usually on the edge of the woods, or near an opening in it, always on the ground, and often under the shelter of a projecting rock or a fallen log. The nest is very rude and simple, consisting of only a few leaves laid in a depression and not woven together. The eggs are from seven to twelve in number, and are generally of a uniform yellowish-brown color, and are very rarely mottled or spotted. During incubation the Partridge sits very closely, and permits a near approach before she will leave her charge. The young Partridges leave the nest as soon as they are hatched, following their mother, who calls to them with a clucking sound not unlike that of the common domestic Hen. The mother is very devoted, courageous, and wily in defending them. Coming suddenly upon a young brood of Partridges squatted with their mother near the roadside in a woods, my first knowledge of their presence was received from the old bird flying directly at my face, and then tumbling about at my feet with frantic manifestations of distress and imitated lameness. In the mean while the little ones scattered in every direction, and were not to be found. As soon as she was satisfied of their safety, the parent flew to a short distance, and I soon heard her clucking call to them to come to her again. Altogether, it was one of the most striking scenes of parental devotion and well-managed intervention I ever witnessed. When I came upon the mother, she had squatted upon the ground, and the young had taken refuge under her wings.

The males keep apart from the females and the young until the approach of winter, when they reassemble in their search for food. In severe seasons, when the snow lies very deep, especially in Pennsylvania, they are said to feed on the buds of the Mountain Laurel, or some other poisonous shrub which imparts a poisonous character to their flesh. In Maine they have been accused of resorting to apple-orchards and destroying the fruit-buds, thus occasionally causing a serious injury to the prospective harvest. We apprehend there is some foundation for these charges.

Mr. William Street, of Easthampton, who resides on Mount Tom, writes me that he has found this Grouse very numerous in that vicinity. Having lived in a secluded place ten years, and having met with these birds constantly by day and by night, he has been able to note some interesting peculiarities in their habits. The drumming by the male is often made on a stone as well as a log, the same perch being resorted to, when once chosen by a male bird, as long as it lives. In one instance he knew one of these Partridges persistently adhere to its drumming-place, even though the woods had all been cut away and a new road made close by its post. They roost on the ground as well as on trees, when near their home, and just where night overtakes them. They can fly by night as well as by day, when disturbed, as he has often had occasion to notice, having started them up at all hours of the night. They are very local in their habits, and never wander more than a hundred rods from the drumming-place of the male. This spot seems to be the central point around which they live. The young keep with the old birds throughout the fall and winter, and select their own homes in the spring, not far from those of their parents. When a flock is started up, they separate and fly in every direction; but if one sits quietly down and keeps perfectly still, in less than an hour he will see them all coming back, on foot, and all at about the same time.

The eggs of this species measure 1.60 inches in length by 1.15 in breadth. They are usually unspotted and of a uniform dark cream-color, occasionally marked with darker blotches of the same. They are of an elongated oval, pointed at one end.

Bonasa umbellus, var. umbelloides, DOUGLAS.

THE MOUNTAIN PARTRIDGE.

Tetrao umbelloides, DOUGL. Linn. Trans. XVI, 1829, 148. Bonasa umbellus, var. umbelloides, BAIRD, Birds N. Am. 1858, 925 (appendix). Bonasa umbelloides, ELLIOT, P. A. N. S. 1864. Bonasa umbellus, AUD.—DALL & BANNISTER, Tr. Chicago, Ac. I, 1869, 287 (Alaska, interior).

SP. CHAR. In pattern of coloration exactly similar to umbellus, but colors different. Rufous tints almost wholly replaced by gray, the ground-color of the tail always fine light ash. Neck-tufts deep glossy-black.

HAB. Rocky Mountains of the United States, and interior of British America, from Alaska (on the Yukon) to Canada, where grading into var. umbellus.

HABITS. In regard to the habits of this variety we have no information. It was found by Mr. Drummond among the Rocky Mountains, near the sources of the tributaries of the Saskatchewan. He states that those he met with were at least one third smaller than the umbellus, had a much grayer plumage and a shorter ruffle. He regarded it as a distinct species from the common Partridge, which he also encountered in the same locality.

Mr. Ridgway met with this variety on the Wahsatch Mountains in October and during the summer. It was known in that locality as the Pine Hen, in distinction from the T. obscurus, which was known as the Mountain Grouse.

The eggs of this variety measure 1.62 inches in length by 1.20 in breadth. Their ground-color is a deep uniform cream, darker than in the umbellus. They are occasionally marked with dark tints of the same.

Bonasa umbellus, var. sabini, DOUGLAS.

THE OREGON GROUSE.

Tetrao sabini, DOUGLAS, Trans. Linn. Soc. XVI, 1829, 137.—RICH. F. Bor. Am. II, 1831, 343. ? Tetrao umbellus, RICH. F. Bor. Am. II, 1831, 342.—NEWBERRY, Zoöl. Cal. & Or. Route, Rep. P. R. R. Surv. VI, IV, 1857, 94. Bonasa sabini, BAIRD, Birds N. Am. 1858, 631.—COOPER & SUCKLEY, 224.—ELLIOT, P. A. N. S. 1864.—IB. Monog. Tetraon.—LORD, Pr. R. A. I. IV, 123 (Br. Col.).—GRAY, Cat. Brit. Mus. V, 1867, 89.—DALL & BANNISTER, Tr. Chicago Ac. I, 1869, 287 (Alaska coast).—COOPER, Orn. Cal. I, 1870, 540.

SP. CHAR. Similar to var. umbellus, but much darker. The rufous tints almost castaneous, and the dusky markings larger. Length, about 18.00; wing, 7.30; tail, 6.70.

HAB. Coast Mountains of Oregon, Washington, and British Columbia.

The specimens of Ruffed Grouse from the Pacific coast differ very greatly from others in much darker tints of coloration, although the pattern is precisely the same. The upper parts are dark orange-chestnut, mottled with black, the cordate light spots very distinct. The feathers of the breast are strongly tinged with reddish-yellow; those of the sides marked with broad and conspicuous bars of black, instead of the obsolete brown. The under tail-coverts are orange-chestnut, with indistinct bars of black, and an angular terminal blotch of white. All the light brown blotches and edgings of the eastern variety are here dark brown or black. The jugular band between the ruffles is very conspicuously black. Specimens from Eastern Oregon and Washington have dark gray tails, and thus incline toward var. umbelloides.

HABITS. The Western Ruffed Grouse was found abundant by Dr. Suckley in the timbered districts throughout Oregon and Washington Territory. Its habits seemed to be identical with those of the eastern birds. Owing to the mildness of the season in the vicinity of Fort Steilacoom, the males commence drumming as early as January, and in February they are heard to drum throughout the night. In the autumn they collect in great numbers in the crab-apple thickets near the salt marshes at the mouths of the rivers emptying into Puget Sound. There they feed for about six weeks on the ripe fruit of the northwestern crab-apple, the Pyrus rivularis of Nuttall.

Dr. Cooper also speaks of this Grouse as very abundant everywhere about the borders of woods and clearings. It was common near the forests east of the Cascade Mountains up to the 49th degree. These birds vary in plumage there, a pale-grayish hue predominating. West of the mountains they are all of a very dark brown. There was, however, no perceptible difference in their habits or cries from those of the same bird elsewhere.

Mr. J. K. Lord assigns to this species an extended geographical range west of the Rocky Mountains,—from the borders of California, throughout Oregon and Washington Territories, extending high up on the slopes of the Rocky Mountains, plentiful in all the timbered lands between the Cascades and the rocky ruts along the banks of the Columbia, over the ridge of the Cascades, and down their western slopes to Frazer’s River, in all the islands of the Gulf of Georgia, and everywhere on Vancouver Island to its extreme northern end, and on the mainland as far north as latitude 53°. The habits of this Grouse are described as singularly erratic, and its food as varied in its character. In the spring their favorite haunt is in the vicinity of stagnant pools, or in the brush around a marsh in which the wild swamp-crab, the black birch, and the alder grow. In such places they mate, and during the breeding-season are said to be very constant and devoted. During the time of pairing, and at intervals after their young are hatched, the male produces the sound known as drumming. The bird is said to squat on a log or a fallen tree, motionless as though it had no life. Suddenly all the feathers appear as if reversed, the tail is erected, the ruff round its neck stands out stiff and rigid, and the wings droop as if broken. These slowly vibrate, and then produce a sound loud and clear, like the thrum of a double-bass string. Then the wings move with increased rapidity, and the sound becomes a continuous throbbing hum. It then suddenly ceases, and after a few minutes the same performance is repeated.

Mr. Lord also states that he has seen the males of this species fighting furiously during the pairing season. Ruffing up their necks, with their heads and backs almost in a straight line, and with wings dropped, they circle round and round each other, striking and pecking until the vanquished gives in, and the victor mounts upon a log and proceeds to drum furiously.

Their nest is completed about the end of May, and is always placed under a log on the ground, or at the foot of a bush. It is composed of a quantity of dead leaves, lined with dry grasses, bits of moss, and a few feathers.

Mr. Lord adds that he found at least ten nests of this bird in one swamp near the Spokane Prairies. From ten to fourteen eggs was about the average number; they are described as in color of a dirty white, and without any spots or freckles of a darker shade. The chickens at once leave the nest and follow their mother, who calls them with a clucking sound, in the manner of a Hen, covers them when resting, and uses all kinds of feints and stratagems to lure an intruder from her young, fluttering along close to his feet as if her wings were entirely disabled, and then, when her chickens have had time to conceal themselves, suddenly darting off. When frightened, this Grouse rises with a loud rattling sound; but its natural upward movement is noiseless.

After the chickens are old enough, the flock removes to open hillsides where grass-seed, berries, and insects are in abundance. This Grouse never packs, but remains in broods. In the fall, before they begin to feed on the spruce buds, their flesh is said to be delicious; but after the snow shuts them off from other food they feed on the fir buds, and then their flesh acquires a strong flavor of turpentine.

In the tree this Grouse is not an easy bird to discover; so closely does its plumage resemble the lichen-covered bark that it is difficult to distinguish them, especially as, when alarmed, they crouch down lengthwise with the limb, and thus become concealed.

GENUS LAGOPUS, VIEILLOT.

Lagopus, VIEILLOT, Analyse, 1816. (Type, Tetrao lagopus, L.)

GEN. CHAR. Nasal groove densely clothed with feathers. Tail of sixteen or eighteen feathers. Legs closely feathered to the claws. The northern species snow white in winter.

The Ptarmigans inhabit the northern regions of both hemispheres, and with the Arctic fox and hares, the lemmings, and a few other species, characterize the Arctic zone. They are of rare occurrence within the limits of the United States, though farther north they become abundant. The species all change to white in winter, except L. scoticus, which appears to be merely a permanently dark, southern, insular form of L. albus. (See Alfred Newton in Proceedings of the Philadelphia Academy, July, 1871, pp. 96, 97.)

Species and Varieties.

=A.= Tail-feathers always with more or less black.

1. =L. mutus.= Bill small, slender, the length from the nasal groove to the tip decidedly more than the height through the base. Male in winter with a black stripe on the lores.

♂ in summer with uniform black feathers on the breast; autumnal plumage bluish-gray, mottled. Hab. Northern Europe …

var. mutus.

♂ in summer without uniform black feathers on the breast. Autumnal plumage orange-rufous. Hab. Northern North America; Greenland; Iceland …

var. rupestris.

2. =L. albus.= Bill large, stout; the length from the nasal groove less, or not more, than the height through the base. Male in winter without black stripe on lores. Hab. Northern Europe and northern North America.

=B.= Tail-feathers entirely pure white.

3. =L. leucurus.= Winter plumage wholly white. Hab. Alpine summits of the Western mountain-ranges, from Colorado to Oregon and Washington, and north into British America.

[Plate: PLATE LXII.

1. Lagopus albus. ♂ Summer. Alaska, 21462. 2. Lagopus albus. ♀ Summer. Labrador, 43468. 3. Lagopus albus. ♂ Winter. 4. Lagopus rupestris. ♂ Winter. 30370. 5. Lagopus rupestris. ♀ Summer. Labrador, 44582. 6. Lagopus leucurus. ♂ Summer. Colorado, 16002.]

Lagopus albus, AUD.

WILLOW GROUSE; WHITE PTARMIGAN.

Tetrao albus, GMELIN, I, 1788, 750 (Hudson’s Bay).—LATH. Ind. Orn. II, 639. Lagopus albus, AUD. Syn. 1839, 207.—IB. Birds Amer. V, 1842, 114, pl. ccxcix.—BONAP. Am. Phil. III, new ser. p. 393, sp. 313.—GRAY, Gen. B. III.—BAIRD, Birds N. Am. 1858, 633.—BOIE, Isis, 1822, 558.—GRAY, Cat. B. Brit. Mus. III, 47, 1844.—BONAP. Geog. & Comp. List. B. p. 44, No. 288.—ELLIOT, Monog. Tetraon. pl.—COUES, P. A. N. S. 1861, 227.—GRAY, Cat. Brit. Mus. V, 1867, 80.—DALL & BANNISTER, Tr. Chicago Ac. I, 1869, 287.—FINSCH, Abh. Nat. III, 1872, 62 (Alaska). Tetrao (Lagopus) albus, NUTTALL, Man. I, (2d ed.,) 1840, 816. ? Tetrao lagopus, FORSTER, Phil. Trans. LXII, 1772, 390. Tetrao saliceti, SABINE, App. Franklin’s Narr. 681.—RICH. App. Parry’s 2d Voyage, 347.—AUD. Orn. Biog. II, 1834, 528, pl. cxci.—SAB. App. Frank. Narr. p. 681. Tetrao (Lagopus) saliceti, SWAINSON, F. Bor. Am. II, 1831, 351.—Lagopus s. GOULD. B. Eur. pl. White Grouse, PENNANT. Tetrao lapponicus, GMEL. Syst. Nat. I, 751, sp. 25.—LATH. Ind. Orn. II, 640, sp. 12. Tetrao rehusak, TEMM. Pig. et Gall. III, 225. Lagopus subalpinus, NILS. Orn. Suec. I, 307, sp. 139. Lagopus brachydactylus, TEMM. Man. Orn. III, 328.—GOULD, B. Eur. pl. cclvi.—GRAY, Gen. B. III.—BONAP. Consp. List. 44, No. 300.

SP. CHAR. Bill very stout. Bill as high as the distance from the nasal groove to its tip. Tail always black, narrowly tipped with white; wing (except upper coverts) pure white.

Summer. Male (43,505, Fort Anderson, September 8; MacFarlane). Head, neck, and jugulum deep cinnamon-rufous; whole upper parts (except wings) paler, more fulvous brown, broadly and closely barred with black. Top of head spotted with black, and the jugulum and neck with scattered bars of the same. Wing, 7.50; bill, .40 from nostril, and .35 deep. Female (53,526, Fort Anderson, June, 1865; MacFarlane). Entire plumage (except wings, tail, and legs) fulvous-buff, heavily spotted and barred above, and regularly barred beneath, with black. Wing, 7.20; bill, .40 by .40.

Winter. Entire plumage, except the tail (which is black with a white tip), immaculate snowy-white; shafts of primaries black. Male (34,968, Northwest R., Labrador; D. Smith). Wing, 7.50; bill, .42 by .45. Female (50,060, Nulato, Lower Yukon, April 12, 1867; W. H. Dall). Wing, 7.50; bill, .42 by .42.

Chick (2,648, Fort Anderson, July, 1864). Prevailing color greenish-buff, tinged with sulphur-yellow on the throat and abdomen, and washed with fulvous on the upper parts. A large oval vertical patch of chestnut-rufous, bordered all round by a black line, which, from the occiput, is continued down the nape in a broad distinct stripe of black. On the upper part of the back this stripe bifurcates, and continues in two broad parallel stripes to the lower part of rump, where they again unite. A black stripe across the wing and one through the eye and auriculars.

HAB. Arctic America from Newfoundland to Sitka.

HABITS. Richardson regarded this species as an inhabitant of the fur countries from the 50th to the 70th parallel of latitude, being partially migratory within those limits. It was found to breed among the valleys of the Rocky Mountains, on the barren grounds, and along the Arctic coasts. On the approach of winter it collects in flocks, and retires southward as the severity of the weather increases. They remain, however, in considerable numbers as far north as latitude 67° even in the coldest winters. It was found to be tolerably abundant at the 65th parallel all the year, assembling in vast flocks on the shores of Hudson Bay in the winter time. Mr. Hutchins states that ten thousand of these birds have been captured in a single season at Severn River. Richardson adds that in 1819 these birds made their first appearance at Cumberland House, latitude 54°, in the second week of November, and that they returned to the northward again before the beginning of spring. In the winter they are said to shelter themselves in thickets of willows and dwarf birches, on the banks of marshes and lakes, the buds of the smaller shrubs being the principal part of their food at that season. Denuded sandy spots were their favorite resorts in the daytime, but they passed their nights in holes in the snow. When pursued by sportsmen or birds of prey, they often terminate their flight by hastily diving into the loose snow, working their way beneath its surface with considerable celerity. In thick, windy, or snowy weather they were very shy, perching on the taller willows, where it required a sharp eye to distinguish them from flakes of snow. In the summer season they feed chiefly on the berries of the alpine arbutus and other shrubs and plants, which are laid bare by the thaw, and which do not disappear until they are replaced by a new crop. They incubate about the beginning of June, at which time the females moult. The males assume their red-colored plumage as soon as the rocks and eminences become bare, at which time they are in the habit of standing upon large stones, calling in a loud and croaking voice to their mates, which, still in their white wintry garb, are hidden in the snows below. These birds are more usually in motion in the milder light of night than in the broad glare of day.

Captain Blakiston traced this Grouse across the interior from Hudson’s Bay to near the Rocky Mountains, and obtained a single specimen near Fort Carlton. It does not come down every winter, however, so far south on the Upper Saskatchewan. Near Lake Winnipeg, at Fort Cumberland, and to the eastward, they are common every winter, and numbers are obtained from the shores of Hudson’s Bay. Mr. Ross gives this species as common on the Mackenzie. Mr. Robert MacFarlane found it around Fort Anderson, where, he writes, it was always very numerous in that quarter at all seasons, and generally not difficult of approach. During the breeding-season the males were to be found perched upon trees and stumps in the vicinity of the nest, while the female would rarely leave the latter until almost trodden on. They are also said, by Mr. MacFarlane, to assume their summer plumage earlier than the males, differing in this statement from Dr. Richardson’s. Their nest is always on the ground, and consists only of a few decayed leaves placed in a depression. Sometimes other materials, such as hay, moss, feathers, etc., are found. While incubating, the female occasionally sits so close as to allow herself to be caught, rather than leave the nest.

They begin to nest early in June, varying a little with the season, not commencing so soon where the ground at that period was still covered with snow. Eggs taken from the oviduct were almost invariably pure white in color. In one instance an egg taken from the oviduct of a female, June 5, that had previously deposited eight eggs the same season, was covered with coloring matter or marking so soft as to adhere to the fingers when touched. After the female has once begun to lay, Mr. MacFarlane observed that she deposits one egg each day until the whole number has been reached. This varies from eight to ten.

The males were always observed in the immediate vicinity of the nest, and began to assume their summer moult about the 6th of June, most of their necks at that time being already of a reddish-brown color. The nests were always on the ground, and were mere depressions lined with a few soft materials, generally leaves, occasionally mingled with feathers, hay, etc., the feathers often being their own. The same nest was often made use of in successive seasons. Eggs were found as late as the 24th of June, and the female is supposed to sit about three weeks before hatching. Occasionally eggs were found dropped on the bare ground without any signs of a nest. In one instance the egg was pure white, like one taken from the oviduct. It was found lying on the bare ground, without the least appearance of a nest in its vicinity.

In one instance where a nest was met with, on the banks of Swan River, by Mr. MacFarlane’s party, en route, the female was almost trodden under foot before she fluttered off, when she at once turned about to face her enemies, spreading her wings and ruffling her feathers as if to attack or frighten them away. In another case a nest containing only one fresh egg, in which the female had but just begun to deposit, was found as late as June 25. Other eggs found June 27 contained very large embryos. Another nest, examined a fortnight later (July 10), had in it ten perfectly fresh eggs. Mr. MacFarlane inferred that this nest had been robbed at an early period of the season. This time she apparently made no attempt at another laying.

In several instances where both birds were present near a nest that was taken, the male bird would make his presence known by giving utterance to very peculiar rough notes, indicative of alarm and of distress at the proceedings. In one instance a nest was found in the midst of a clump of very small stunted willows, within thirty feet of the spot where Mr. MacFarlane’s tent was pitched. This was on the 21st of June, but the nest escaped notice until the 22d of July, when the female was almost trodden on as she was sitting on her eggs, where she had probably had her nest during their entire stay. The eggs were warm when taken, and their contents were slightly developed. During the night the male Ptarmigan disturbed the encampment by keeping up a constant utterance of his rough and rather unpleasant notes. In another instance the female fluttered off, calling, and pretending to be badly wounded; while the male bird, in the vicinity, made his near presence known by the loud manner in which he expressed his disapprobation of such proceedings.

In one instance where an Indian had found a nest of this Ptarmigan, which then contained seven eggs, the female was seen, and the notes of the male bird were heard. He placed a snare about the eggs, but on returning to the nest a few hours afterwards, he was surprised to find that six of the eggs had disappeared during his brief absence. He supposed a fox had taken them; but as no egg-shells were left behind, Mr. MacFarlane has no doubt they were removed by the parent birds.

When the young are hatched they follow the parents, both of whom keep about them, and display great courage and devotion whenever there is any occasion, suffering themselves to be very closely approached, and utterly regardless of consequences in their desire to save their young. The latter are very hard to recognize, owing to their close resemblance to the grass, in which they squat, and remain perfectly still.

In September and October of each season these Ptarmigans assemble in large flocks, but during winter seldom more than two or three dozen were ever noticed in single companies. They would often alight and feed in the immediate presence of the men, and would even permit a very near approach. During the winter they were frequently to be met with between Fort Anderson and Fort Good Hope, in especial abundance about the last-mentioned post. As the spring approached, they began to migrate to the north; so that in the summer scarcely a Ptarmigan was to be seen south of Lockhart River, on their usual line of march to that post. In February, 1859, Mr. MacFarlane found them numerous to the very borders of the wooded country, along the banks of the Lower Anderson.

Mr. Donald Gunn states that this Ptarmigan is very seldom to be seen south or west of Lake Winnipeg, but is found in all the country north and east of that lake during the winter season. In the summer they are said to breed around Hudson’s Bay, and during the winter to be found along the whole extent of that bay, especially if the winter is mild. During severe winters they go more inland. The males of this species are said by Mr. Gunn to crow morning and evening in the same manner as the Moor-fowl in Scotland, the tone and notes being very similar. The female is said to lay from ten to sixteen eggs, but the largest number taken by Mr. MacFarlane appears to have been ten. These birds are of great service to the Indians, serving as food when larger game fails; and their feathers are also a considerable article of trade, several hundredweight of them being annually sent to London.

Mr. Dall found this Ptarmigan abundant in Alaska, from Fort Yukon to the sea. In winter they feed exclusively on willow buds, a double-handful having often been found in their crops. As soon as the ground was well covered with snow they appeared on the river in coveys among the willow-thickets. They were rather shy, and on an alarm flew immediately, but without noise. They made regular paths along the banks of the river among the willows, along which they always ran. The Indians took advantage of these to snare them, and caught them by hundreds. They were abundant in the fall and midwinter. In February they gathered in immense flocks, and disappeared, no one could tell where, returning about the middle of March as suddenly as they had gone away, remaining a few weeks, then resorting to the mountains and open country to breed. In 1867 they disappeared February 15 and returned April 1, leaving for the mountains May 3. The following year they left February 10, returned March 21, and left for the mountains April 28, going and coming in large flocks. They begin to moult about the middle of April, the feathers of the head, edges of wings, and upper tail-coverts, changing first. At this time the capillaries in the skin of the abdomen become engorged with serous fluid, and give to the bird a disgusting appearance. Mr. Dall obtained eggs in an open tundra near the mouth of the Yukon in the latter part of June. The female defended her nest bravely, and rather than desert her eggs allowed herself to be torn to pieces by a dog.

Mr. Bannister was also struck with the strong attachment shown to each other by both sexes during the breeding-season. He has known the male bird to sacrifice his own life, rather than desert his wounded mate. He mentions them as common at St. Michaels and the adjoining mainland during the greater part of the year, but especially abundant in the spring, when they are found singly or in pairs all over the country. In the fall and winter they kept more to the thickets of willows. The greater part of them were supposed to have gone into the wooded district of the interior for better shelter and more abundant food.

The eggs of this species vary considerably in length and breadth; they average about 1.85 inches in length and 1.20 in breadth, and are oval in shape, one end a little less obtuse than the other. They are all beautifully variegated and marked with bold confluent blotches of a dark claret color, upon a ground of a deep cream tinged with a reddish shading.

Lagopus mutus, var. rupestris, LEACH.

ROCK PTARMIGAN.

Tetrao rupestris, GMELIN, Syst. Nat. I, 1788, 751 (based on Rock Grouse of Pennant).—LATHAM, Ind. Orn. II, 1790, 312.—SABINE, Supplem. Parry’s First Voyage, page cxcv.—RICHARDSON, Append. Parry’s Second Voyage, 348.—AUD. Orn. Biog. IV, 1838, 483, pl. ccclxviii. Lagopus rupestris, LEACH, Zoöl. Misc. II, 290.—BON. List, 1838.—AUD. Syn. 208.—IB. Birds Amer. V, 1842, 122, pl. ccci.—BAIRD, Birds N. Am. 1858, 635.—ELLIOT, Monog. Tetraon. pl.—GRAY, Cat. Brit. Mus. V, 1867, 92.—DALL & BANNISTER, Tr. Chicago Ac. I, 1869, 287. Tetrao (Lagopus) rupestris, SWAINS. F. Bor. Am. II, 1831, 354, pl. lxiv. Attagen rupestris, REICH. Av. Syst. Nat. 1851, page xxix. Rock Grouse, PENNANT, Arctic Zoöl. II, 312. Lagopus islandorum, FAB. Prod. der Island. Orn. page 6.—GRAY, Gen.—IB. Cat. B. Brit. Mus. III, 47, 1844. Tetrao lagopus islandicus, SCHLEG. Rev. Crit. des Ois. d’Eur. p. 76. Tetrao islandicus, BREHM, Eur. Vog. II, 448. Lagopus reinhardti, BREHM. Lagopus groenlandicus, BREHM, Vögelfang, p. cclxiv, note. ? Tetrao lagopus, SABINE, E. Suppl. Parry’s First Voyage, p. cxcvii.—SABINE, J. Franklin’s Jour. 682.—RICH. App. Parry’s Second Voyage, 350. Tetrao (Lagopus) mutus, RICH. F. B. A. II, 1831, 350. Tetrao mutus, AUD. Orn. Biog. V, 1839, 196. Lagopus mutus, GRAY, Cat. B. Brit. Mus. 1867, 91 (Ft. Resolution and Ft. Simpson). Lagopus americanus, AUD. Syn. 1839, 207, B. Am. V, 1842, 119, pl. ccc.—BAIRD, Birds N. Am. 1858, 637.

SP. CHAR. Bill slender; distance from the nasal groove to tip (.35) greater than height at base (.27). In summer the feathers of back black, banded distinctly with yellowish-brown and tipped with white. In winter white, the tail black; the male with a black bar from bill through eye. Size considerably less than that of L. albus. Length, about 14.50; wing, 7.50; tail, 4.50.

Female in summer (44,582, Barren Grounds, June 29, 1864; R. MacFarlane). Wings (except upper coverts) and legs white; tail (except intermediæ), black, narrowly tipped with white. Rest of plumage light ochraceous or buff, some feathers tipped with white, and all with broad transverse bars of black, this color prevailing on the dorsal region. On the lower surface the buff bars exceed the black ones in width. Wing, 7.20; tarsus, 1.15; middle toe, .90; bill, .35 by .27.

HAB. Arctic America.

The L. mutus of Europe appears to differ only in its summer and autumnal plumages from the present form, and is then only distinguished by the uniformly black feathers on the breast in the former, and the bluish cast in the latter stage. Those in the winter plumage that we have examined are absolutely identical in size, proportions, and color with the American birds.

HABITS. According to Hutchins, this Ptarmigan is numerous at the two extremes of Hudson’s Bay, but does not appear at the middle settlements of York and Severn except in very severe seasons, when the Willow Grouse are scarce; and Captain Sabine informed Richardson that they abounded on Melville Island, latitude 75°, in the summer. They arrived there in their snow-white winter dress about the 12th of May. By the end of the month the females had begun to assume their colored plumage, which was completed by the first week in June, when the change in the plumage had only just commenced in the males. Some of the latter were found as late as the middle of June in their unaltered winter plumage. This Grouse was also found on the Melville peninsula and the Barren Grounds, rarely going farther south, even in the winter, than latitude 53° in the interior, but, on the coast of Hudson’s Bay, descending to latitude 58°, and in severe seasons still farther to the southward. In its general manners and mode of living it is said to resemble the albus, but does not retire so far into the wooded country in the winter. At that season it frequents the more open woods on the borders of lakes, especially in the 65th parallel, but the bulk of this species remains on the skirts of the Barren Grounds. They incubate in June.

Mr. MacFarlane found this species breeding about Fort Anderson, and on the Barren Grounds east of the Horton River. They nest, in a similar manner to L. albus, on the ground, placing the materials in a depression on the ground, and using hay, withered leaves, and a few feathers, and making a rather loose, ill-arranged nest. This is usually placed on an open common, sometimes near the banks of a small stream. They were more early in their breeding than the albus, as young Ptarmigans of a goodly size are mentioned as having been seen June 30. The eggs ranged from four to eight in number.

The female sits very close, and rather than leave will sometimes suffer herself to be taken by the hand. In one instance when a nest was approached, the female crouched as much as possible, in the hope that she might not be noticed, which would have happened had not one of the party observed her eye. Her summer plumage was almost exactly of the same color with the soil, and hardly distinguishable from it. The man was within three feet, and, making a swoop, caught her on the nest.

Excepting in 1862, Mr. MacFarlane did not meet with any of this species west of the Swan River, on his various journeys to Franklin Bay. Every season, almost immediately on leaving the woods fringing Swan River, birds began to be seen as far as and all along the Arctic coast. Although constantly found feeding in large numbers on the Barrens, it was always difficult to find their nests. They were most numerous between Horton River and Franklin Bay, and were frequently seen standing singly, or feeding on the ground, or an occasional pair might be seen, but it was seldom any number were observed in company.

Mr. Dall states that this species was not uncommon in the Romanzoff Mountains, northwest of Fort Yukon, but did not know of its being found farther south or west. It was obtained by S. Weston at Fort Yukon, and among the mountains by Mr. McDougal.

The eggs of this species closely resemble those of L. albus, but are somewhat smaller in size. They measure 1.63 inches in length by 1.18 in breadth, varying slightly in size. Their ground is a deep reddish cream-color, nearly covered by large blotches of a reddish-chestnut, giving a beautifully variegated effect to the whole.

Lagopus leucurus, SWAINSON & RICHARDSON.

WHITE-TAILED PTARMIGAN.

Tetrao (Lagopus) leucurus, SW. & RICH. F. B. A. II, 1831, 356, pl. lxiii.—NUTT. Man. Orn. II, 1834, 612.—IB. I, (2d ed.,) 1840, 820.—DOUGL. Tr. Linn. Soc. XVI, 146. Tetrao leucurus, AUD. Orn. Biog. V, 1839, 200, pl. ccccxviii. Lagopus leucurus, AUD. Syn. 1839.—IB. B. Am. V, 1842, 125, pl. cccii.—GRAY, Gen. III.—BAIRD, Birds N. Am. 1858, 637.—BON. Comp. List. 441, No. 291.—ELLIOT, P. A. N. S. 1864.—IB. Monog. Tetraon. pl.—GRAY, Cat. Brit. Mus. V, 1867, 93.—COOPER, Orn. Cal. I, 1870, 542.

SP. CHAR. Male? winter (4,578, Fort Halkett, Liard’s River). Entirely pure white, including the tail. Wing, 6.70; tarsus, 1.00; middle toe, 1.00; bill, .35 by .29.

Summer. Wings, tail, abdomen, crissum, and legs immaculate snowy-white. Ground-color of rest of plumage grayish-white on head and neck and ashy-buff on other portions, finely and rather sparsely sprinkled with black,—more in form of ragged transverse bars anteriorly and on sides. (♀, 16,002, Camp Skagitt, N. W. B., August 16; C. B. Kennerly.)

HAB. Alpine summits of the Western mountains, from lat. 39° in the Rocky Mountains north into British America, and west to the Cascades of Oregon, Washington, and British Columbia.

HABITS. This species was first procured by Mr. Drummond, and described by Swainson in the “Fauna Borealis.” Five specimens were taken on the Rocky Mountains in the 54th parallel, and another, by Mr. MacPherson, on the same chain, nine degrees farther north. They were said to have all the habits of the other Ptarmigans, and to inhabit the snowy peaks near the mouth of the Columbia, as well as the lofty ridges of the Rocky Mountains.

We have but little reliable information in regard to the habits and distribution of this species. It seems to be confined entirely to the range of the Rocky Mountains, and to be found only among their highest points, occurring at least as far to the south as Cochetope Pass, in latitude 39°, and extending north to an undetermined extent. Specimens were procured in 1858 by Captain R. B. Marcy, on his march from Fort Bridger, in Utah, across the Rocky Mountains to Santa Fé. They were met with near the summit of the mountains not far from Cochetope Pass.

Mr. Charles E. Aiken writes me that he has been informed that this bird is common on Snowy Range, in Colorado Territory. He was informed by an old miner, who claimed to have met with these birds breeding near the top of the range in June, that their nest, composed of leaves and grass, is placed on the ground among bushes on hillsides; that the eggs are fourteen in number, of a light bluish-brown, marked and spotted with a darker shade of brown.

Mr. J. A. Allen (Am. Nat., June, 1872) mentions finding, among the snow-fields of the higher parts of the mountains of Colorado, this Grouse as one of the essentially Arctic species that were not met with below the region of snow. The Ptarmigans were quite common, and in the winter descend into the timbered land, where a great number are killed by the miners for food.

An egg, given to Mr. Allen as a genuine egg of this species, was taken on Mount Lincoln, Colorado, by Mr. Arthur Meade. It is of an oblong-oval shape, and measures, as well as its imperfect condition permitted its length to be estimated, about 1.80 inches by 1.20 in breadth. Its ground is a deep ochraceous cream-color, marked with small rounded spots of a deep chestnut. These are pretty uniformly sprinkled over the surface. Except in size, it bears a close resemblance to the eggs of the European Tetrao urogallus.

FAMILY PERDICIDÆ.—THE PARTRIDGES.

CHAR. Nostrils protected by a naked scale. The tarsi bare and scutellate.

The Perdicidæ differ from the Grouse in the bare legs and naked nasal fossæ. They are much smaller in size and more abundant in species. They are widely distributed over the surface of the globe, a large number belonging to America, where the subfamilies have no Old World representatives whatever. The head seldom, if ever, shows the naked space around and above the eye, so common in the TETRAONIDÆ; and the sides of the toes scarcely exhibit the peculiar pectination formed by a succession of small scales or plates.

SUBFAMILY ORTYGINÆ.

CHAR. Bill stout, the lower mandible more or less bidentate on each side near the end.

The Ortyginæ of Bonaparte, or Odontophorinæ of other authors, are characterized as a group by the bidentation on either side of the edge of lower mandible, usually concealed in the closed mouth, and sometimes scarcely appreciable. The bill is short, and rather high at base; stouter and shorter than what is usually seen in Old World Partridges. The culmen is curved from the base; the tip of the bill broad, and overlapping the end of the lower mandible. The nasal groove is short. The tail is rather broad and long.

Synopsis of Genera found in the United States.

a. Head without crest.

=Ortyx.= Tail not much more than half the wings; outstretched feet reaching beyond the tail.

b. Head with a crest of a few long narrow, keel-shaped feathers.

=Oreortyx.= Crest-feathers very long, linear; tail scarcely more than half the wings; bill stout; claws blunt, the lateral not reaching the base of the middle claw. Toes of the outstretched foot reaching beyond the tail.

=Lophortyx.= Crest-feathers widening much terminally, and recurved at the ends. Tail nearly or quite as long as wings. Bill rather small. Claws acute, the lateral reaching to the base of middle one. Toes not reaching the tip of tail.

c. Crest soft, full, and tufted; composed of short, broad, depressed feathers.

=Callipepla.= Crest springing from the crown. Wing-coverts normal. Tail stiffened, nearly as long as the wings. Claws small, acute; outstretched feet not reaching the tip of tail.

=Cyrtonyx.= Crest occipital. Wing-coverts greatly developed. Tail very small and soft; half as long as the wings. Toes short; claws very long, blunted; outstretched feet reaching much beyond the tip of the tail.

All the North American Quails, except Cyrtonyx massena, have the inner tertiaries edged internally with whitish or buff, forming a conspicuous line on each side of the rump when the wings are closed.

GENUS ORTYX, STEPHENS.

Ortyx, STEPHENS, Shaw’s Gen. Zoöl. XI, 1819. (Type, Tetrao virginianus, L.)

GEN. CHAR. Bill stout. Head entirely without any crest. Tail short, scarcely more than half the wing, composed of moderately soft feathers. Wings normal. Legs developed, the toes reaching considerably beyond the tip of the tail; the lateral toes short, equal, their claws falling decidedly short of the base of the middle claw.

The genus Ortyx embraces numerous species, more or less resembling the well-known Bob-white of the United States. They are chiefly confined to Mexico, Central America, and the West India Islands. North America and the West India Islands contain but one species, and this is so exceedingly variable in plumage that it is only at extreme points of its range that differences acquire sufficient constancy to be considered worthy of especial notice. The regions of its extremes of variation are the northeastern, southeastern, and southwestern limits of its range; the modifications attaining in Cuba and in Texas sufficient value to have been deemed of specific importance. But comparing even the three extremes of plumage, the differences are found to consist only in a varying amount of the several colors, specimens from intervening regions forming the connecting links.

Species and Varieties.

=O. virginianus.= Head longitudinally striped, with a dark superior and lateral stripe, a light superciliary stripe (continuing down the side of the neck), and a light gular patch; these stripes blackish and pure white in the male, and rusty and ochraceous in the female. Above mottled with rusty and grayish; the latter prevailing posteriorly, the former anteriorly. Upper part of the rump, scapulars, and upper wing-coverts more or less blotched with black. Beneath white, with transverse, somewhat V-shaped bars of black; sides striped with rufous; lower tail-coverts rufous, with black medial arrow-head, and both webs tipped with roundish spots of rusty white.

Black gular collar of the male .50, or less, in width.

Reddish tints prevailing; these nearly continuous on the upper parts, where the mottlings are minute. Distinct black blotches on the scapulars, tertials, and upper part of rump. Wing, 4.25 (Florida, Southern Illinois, Missouri, etc.) to 4.80 (northeastern United States). Hab. Eastern Province of the United States; Jamaica? …

var. virginianus.

Grayish tints prevailing; no continuous color on the upper parts, where the mottlings are coarse and general. No distinct black blotches on the scapulars, etc. Gular black collar narrower. Wing, 4.10 to 4.50. Hab. Plains, from Texas to Kansas (where it grades into virginianus) …

var. texanus.

Black gular collar much more than .50 in width.

Black markings predominating in the male. Female hardly distinguishable from that of var. texanus. Wing, 4.10. Hab. Cuba …

var. cubanensis.[115]

[Plate: PLATE LXIII.

1. Ortyx virginianus. ♂ Pa., 1715. 2. Ortyx virginianus. ♀ Pa., 1714. 3. Ortyx texanus. ♂ Texas, 4099. 4. Ortyx texanus. ♀ Texas, 9347. 5. Oreortyx pictus. ♂ Cal., 3935. 6. Callipepla squamata. ♂ New Mex., 9386.]

Ortyx virginianus, var. virginianus, BONAP.

QUAIL; PARTRIDGE; BOB-WHITE.

Tetrao virginianus, LINN. Syst. Nat. I, 1766, 277, 16 (female?).—GMELIN, I, 1788, 761. Perdix virginiana, LATH. Ind. Orn. II, 1790, 650.—WILSON, Am. Orn. VI, 1812, 21, pl. xlvii.—DOUGHTY’S Cab. I, 1830, 37, pl. iv.—AUD. Orn. Biog. I, 1831, 388; V, 1839, 564, pl. lxxvi. Perdix (Ortyx) virginiana, BONAP. Obs. Wils. 1825, No. 203. Ortyx virginiana, JARDINE, Nat. Library Birds, IV, Game Birds, 101, pl. x.—BON. List, 1838.—AUD. Syn. 1839, 199.—IB. Birds Amer. V, 1842, 59, pl. cclxxxix.—GOULD, Mon. Odont. pl. i.—BAIRD, Birds N. Am. 1858, 640.—NEWTON, Ibis, I, 255 (Santa Cruz; introduced!).—BRYANT, B. Pr. VII, 1859 (Bahamas; introduced!).—SCLATER, P. Z. S. 1861, 80 (Jamaica).—MARCH, P. A. N. S. 1863, 303 (Jamaica).—MAX. Cab. J. VII, 1858, 444.—GRAY, Cat. Brit. Mus. V, 1867, 75.—FOWLER, Am. Nat. III, Dec. 1869, 535 (habits). Perdix (Colinia) virginiana, NUTTALL, Man. I, 1832, 646. Tetrao marilandicus, LINN. Syst. Nat. I, 1766, 277, 18.—GMELIN, I, 1788, 761, 17. Perdix marilandica, LATHAM, Ind. Orn. II, 1790, 650. Tetrao minor, BARTRAM, Travels, 1791, 290 bis. Perdix borealis, VIEILLOT, Nouv. Dict.—IB. Galerie, II, 44, pl. ccxiv. Ortyx borealis, STEPH., Shaw’s Zoöl. XI, 1819, 377. Virginia Partridge, LATHAM, Syn. II, ii, 777. Ortyx castaneus, GOULD, P. Z. S. X, 182.—IB. Mon. Odont. (A somewhat melanistic plumage, occasionally seen in specimens from Iowa, Illinois, etc. ?)

SP. CHAR. Forehead, and line through the eye and along the side of the neck, with chin and throat, white. A band of black across the vertex, and extending backwards on the sides, within the white, and another from the maxilla beneath the eye, and crossing on the lower part of the throat. The under parts are white, tinged with brown anteriorly; each feather with several narrow, obtusely V-shaped bands of black. The forepart of back, the side of the breast, and in front just below the black collar, of a dull pinkish-red. The sides of body and wing-coverts brownish-red; the latter almost uniform, without indication of mottling. Scapulars and upper tertials coarsely blotched with black, and edged internally with brownish-yellow. Top of head reddish; the lower part of neck, except anteriorly, streaked with white and black. Primary quills unspotted brown. Tail ash. Female with the white markings of the head replaced by brownish-yellow; the black ones with brownish.

Young. Head ashy, with a narrow post-ocular white stripe, and the crown spotted with black; throat whitish. Beneath pale dingy-ashy, with whitish shaft-streaks, and without black bars or other markings. Above reddish or olivaceous drab, the feathers with whitish shaft-streaks, and a large black spot, mostly on upper web.

Chick. Head dingy buff; an auricular dusky elongated spot, and a vertical patch of chestnut-rufous, widening on the occiput.

Length, 10.00; wing, 4.70; tail, 2.85.

Hab. Eastern United States to the high Central Plains; Devil’s River, Texas?

Specimens from Missouri and Southern Illinois are intermediate between the typical virginianus of the Northeastern States and Florida examples,[116] which approach in every respect, except the broad jugular collar, the var. cubanensis. The size is scarcely greater,—the range in Florida birds being wing 4.10 to 4.30, while the average of Missouri and Southern Illinois series is about 4.25; again, in northern and eastern specimens the wing is 4.70 to 4.80. In colors, Southern Illinois and Florida birds are also very similar; but in Florida there is less tendency to black blotches on scapulars, etc., while in specimens from the southern part of the peninsula the bill is appreciably larger. From the plains of Kansas specimens are intermediate between these Illinois birds and the var. texanus.

A pair of Quails from Jamaica, probably derived from Continental parents, are less different from United States specimens than are those from Cuba or Texas. In size they are like the former, and have also an equally large bill; the male, however, is not darker beneath than Southern specimens of virginianus, while the female is absolutely undistinguishable in color from examples of that race from the Middle States.

HABITS. The present species, known in New England and in certain other parts of the country as the Quail, and in the Middle and Southern States as the Partridge,—either of which names, belonging to other and quite different birds, is inappropriate,—is found throughout the eastern portion of North America from Florida to Maine, and from the Atlantic to Texas on the south and to the Central Plains. Partially successful attempts have been made to introduce it in Utah, and its area promises to extend much farther west than its original limits. This species has also been acclimated in Jamaica, and now abounds in all parts of that island. There they are said, by Mr. March, to make no nest, but to lay on the ground, in tufts of grassroots or under clumps of bushes, usually from twelve to twenty eggs. These are smaller than with us, measuring 1.25 inches by an inch. Mr. March adds that, during incubation, the male may usually be found sitting on a low branch in the vicinity of the nest, but does not assist in incubation.

The Quail has also been introduced into the island of St. Croix, and is now very common in almost every part of it, being especially abundant in the grass lands of the southwestern part. Their habits appear to be somewhat modified by their place of abode, as Mr. Newton has several times seen birds of this species fly up from the ground when flushed, and perch upon trees. He also states that, so far as he could find, their nest is never covered over, as described by some writers, but consists merely of a shallow hole scraped in the ground, in which is deposited a little dried grass or “trash,” the leaves of the sugar-cane. It is often placed to leeward of a protecting cane “stool.”

This bird is probably found in all the New England States, though its presence in Maine is not certain, and, if found there at all, is only met with in the extreme southwestern portion. It is also rare in Vermont and New Hampshire, and only found in the southern portions. It is not given by Mr. Boardman, nor by Professor Verrill. Farther west it has a more northern distribution, being found in Northern New York and in Southern Canada. Mr. McIlwraith gives it as resident in the neighborhood of Hamilton.

In many parts of Massachusetts the Quail has become a very rare bird, owing to the ravages caused by sportsmen and the severity of winters, heavy falls of snow being frequently particularly fatal to them.

The Quails are not migratory, rarely moving to any extent from the spot where they were hatched, even in quest of food, and are easily affected by scarcity of food or by the severity of the winter season. In heavy falls of snow they frequently huddle together on the ground, and allow themselves to be buried in the drifts. If the snow is light, they can easily extricate themselves, and run over its surface in quest of berries and the seeds of shrubs; but if the fall be followed by a partial thaw, and a crust forms, the birds are made prisoners within its impenetrable cover, and miserably perish of hunger. In the severe winter of 1866 and 1867, large numbers of Quails thus perished throughout all parts of Massachusetts. When the snow melted, they were found, in numerous instances, crowded close together and embedded in the frozen drifts.

Unlike most birds of this family, the American Quail never collects in large flocks, but usually moves in small family groups, varying in number from ten to thirty, but too often reduced to a mere remnant by the inroads of the sportsman. When there are two broods in a season, the second brood unites with the first, and, if unmolested, they keep together until the spring, under the guidance of the parents. In the mating-season they usually separate into pairs, though occasionally a male will associate with more than a single female, in which case their joint product is united in the same nest. In the spring of 1850 I found one of the nests which contained no less than thirty-two eggs. The nest was placed on the side of a hill, in an open pasture, within a few rods of the main street, and in the midst of the principal village in Hingham. It was comparatively small, composed of coarse stems of grass, arched at the top, with the entrance on one side, and the eggs were promiscuously piled one upon another. The latter were removed for the purpose of ascertaining the exact number, but very carefully replaced; yet the parent birds deserted them, as they are said always to do if their eggs are handled. An attempt was made to hatch the eggs under a common Hen, but it proved unsuccessful. As the nest was in so exposed a place, it is quite possible that its abandonment by the parent may have been occasioned by other causes than our touching the eggs.

These birds are always found in grounds more or less open, preferring those in which there is abundance of low trees and clusters of shrubs in which they can shelter themselves, on the edges of woods, where they occasionally hide or roost on low branches near the ground. Their favorite food is seeds of various plants, and berries; and in the fall of the year, or late in summer, they feed largely on grasshoppers, and on this food they thrive and become very fat. They are also very fond of buckwheat, corn, and all the kinds of grain. In confinement they eat beechnuts, acorns, and other kinds of nuts, if broken for them. In villages where they are not molested they become very tame, freely approach the barnyards to feed with the poultry, and will even come at the call of their friends and pick up food thrown to them. This is especially noticeable in Florida, where the representatives of the small race of the species found there are very numerous and remarkably confiding.

The Quail is esteemed a great delicacy as an article of food, and is sought for the market by means of traps, nets, and various kinds of snares, and by sportsmen with the gun and dogs. It is naturally unsuspicious, is easily approached, and in the thickly settled parts of the country its ranks are already greatly thinned. It is gradually disappearing from New England, and is now very rare in large tracts where it was once quite abundant. In some localities they have only been retained by the importations of others from a distance. They are of gentle disposition, are apparently much attached to each other both in the conjugal and in the parental relations, and always keep closely together in the small flocks associating together. In the fall the old birds remain with their offspring of the season, and direct the movements of their family. They always keep close together, by day as well as by night, roost on the ground under the shelter of bushes in a circle, their bodies closely impacted, and their heads forming the exterior. This conduces alike to their safety and to their warmth.

Late in April or early in May they construct their nests, always on the ground, usually under the protection of some cluster of bushes, in a depression. It is often on the slope of a small eminence. It is very simple, the materials loosely put together, and wholly of coarse stubble or straw. All that I have seen have been arched over at the top, and with a partially covered entrance; but I am told that it is as often open as covered. The eggs are spoken of in the books as from fifteen to twenty. I have never found less than twenty-four, and from that number to thirty-two. I think that each female lays but about eight, and that several females make use of the same nest,—never less than two, nor more than four. But this opinion is conjectural rather than ascertained. They have two broods in a season, the second in August, at which time the male is engaged in leading the first brood, of which he takes charge when they are hardly half grown. He is a courageous, watchful, and devoted guardian. Once as I was rapidly descending a path on the side of a hill, among a low growth of scrub-oak I came suddenly upon a covey of young Quail, feeding on blueberries, and directly in the path. They did not see me until I was close upon them, when the old bird, a fine old male, flew directly towards me and tumbled at my feet as if in a dying condition, giving at the same time a shrill whistle, expressive of intense alarm. I stooped and put my hand upon his extended wings, and could easily have caught him. The young birds, at the cry of the parent, flew in all directions; and their devoted father soon followed them, and began calling to them in a low cluck, like the cry of the Brown Thresher. The young at this time were hardly more than a week old, and seemed to fly perfectly well to a short distance. The female was nowhere to be seen, but may have been previously killed, or may have been already in her second incubation at that early stage. The young run as soon as they are hatched, and from the first aid their flight with their wings; when pursued, I have never known them to squat in the manner of the Ruffed Grouse, but rather to hide themselves in thick bushes or tufts of grass, running from these if discovered.

The male bird has a loud, clear, and very distinctive whistle, which in New England is interpreted as No more wet, or, if his utterance is more hurried and excited, as More wet; and there are those who still attach to these utterances a meteorological significance. In other parts of the country this cry is supposed to be Ah Bob-white, or Bob-white, and the birds are not unfrequently called Bob-Whites, a name suggested by Professor Baird as a good specific designation. Their note when calling their young brood is very different, and is a low twitter, suggestive of affection, caution, and gentle care. It is soft and subdued, and would readily escape notice.

They make a loud whirring sound when they take to flight, but they rarely fly to any distance, even when most alarmed, as their flight is somewhat laborious. They often escape by running on the ground, especially when they are not suddenly startled.

Mr. Audubon states that at the West this bird performs occasional migrations towards the southeast in October, in the manner of the Wild Turkey; but I cannot find that others have noticed this occurrence. In the Southern and Western States, where this species is very plentiful, they are taken in immense numbers in large nets, into which they are cautiously and slowly driven by a party of hunters.

This species, with proper pains, may be easily raised in confinement, induced to breed, and trained into a condition of partial domestication. Rev. Dr. Bachman, of Charleston, S. C., succeeded in obtaining, by hatching under a Bantam Hen, a brood of young Quails. Confining them with their foster-mother for a few days, they were soon taught to follow her like young chickens. They were fed at first on curds, but soon began to eat cracked Indian-corn and millet. They were permitted to stray at large in the garden, one wing of each having been shortened. They became very gentle, and were in the habit of following Dr. Bachman through his house, seating themselves on the table at which he was writing, occasionally, in play, pecking at his hands or running off with his pen. At night they nestled in a coop in the garden. Although these pets had no opportunity of hearing any other sounds than those of the poultry, the male birds commenced in the spring their not unmusical note of Bob-white, at first low, but increasing in loudness, until they were heard through the whole neighborhood. Their notes were precisely like those of the wild birds. As the spring advanced the males became very pugnacious, and continued contests took place among themselves, as well as with the Pigeons and the poultry that intruded on their premises. Their eggs were placed under a Hen and hatched out. The experiment went no further, but was quite sufficient to demonstrate the possibility of their domestication.

Wilson relates that in one instance a female of this species set upon and hatched out the eggs of the common Hen. For several weeks after, his informant occasionally surprised her in various parts of the plantation with her brood of chickens, on which occasion she exhibited every indication of distress and alarm, and practised her usual manœuvres for their preservation. She continued to lead them about until they were larger than herself, and their manners had all the shyness and timidity and alarm of young Quails.

Mr. Allen states (Am. Nat., July, 1872) that this species has been recently introduced into the Great Salt Lake Valley, and in 1871 was giving promise of multiplying rapidly and becoming thoroughly naturalized, young birds having been raised in the summer of 1871.

The eggs of this species are of a pure, brilliant white color, sharply pointed at one end, and obtusely rounded at the other. They average about 1.35 inches in length by one inch in breadth.

Ortyx virginianus, var. texanus, LAWRENCE.

Ortyx texanus, LAWRENCE, Ann. N. Y. Lyc. VI, April, 1853, 1.—BAIRD, Birds N. Am. 1858, 641, pl. lxii.—IB. Mex. B. II, Birds, 22, pl. xxiv.—DRESSER, Ibis, 1866, 27 (S. E. Texas; breeds).—GRAY, Cat. Brit. Mus. V. 1867, 75.—HEERM. X, c. 18.

SP. CHAR. General appearance that of O. virginianus. Chin, throat, forehead, and stripe over the eye, white. Stripe behind the eye, continuous with a collar across the lower part of the throat, black. Under parts white, with zigzag transverse bars of black. Above pale brownish-red, strongly tinged with ash, the feathers all faintly though distinctly mottled with black; the lower back, scapulars, and tertials much blotched with black, the latter edged on both sides, and, to some extent, transversely barred with brownish-white. Secondaries with transverse bars of the same on the outer web. Wing-coverts coarsely and conspicuously barred with blackish. Lower part of neck, except before, streaked with black and white.

Female with the white of the head changed to brownish-yellow; the black of the head wanting. Length, 9.00; wing, 4.35; tail, 2.85.

HAB. Southern Texas and Valley of the Rio Grande; Republican River, Kansas; Washita River, Indian Territory.

HABITS. This form, which appears to be confined to the southern portion of Texas and to the valley of the Rio Grande River, was first described by Mr. Lawrence in 1853. It has been taken in the neighborhood of San Antonio and on the Nueces River by Captain Pope; on Devil’s River by Major William H. Emory; at Fort Clark, on the Pecos River, near Laredo, Texas, at Matamoras, and near New Leon, Mexico, and in other localities, by Lieutenant Couch. According to Mr. Clark, they were very abundant in the valley of the Pecos, as well as in all Southwestern Texas. They were much like the common Virginia Quail in habits as well as in appearance, and to his ear the note of this bird was absolutely identical with that of the common Quail. He has often been a spectator of fights among the males of this variety. To this account Dr. Kennerly adds that he observed them everywhere in considerable numbers from the coast to the headwaters of Devil’s River, and also along the Pecos River; but farther west than this none were seen. In the open prairie lands great numbers were always found early in the morning in the road. The close resemblance of its habits to those of the common Partridge was also noticed.

This Quail was first observed by Dr. Heermann in abundance on the Pecos River, although seen some days previous to reaching that point. Their numbers increased as they neared civilization, and near San Antonio they became very plentiful. The call of the male bird is said to consist of two notes repeated at intervals, which are less loud, clear, and ringing than those of the common Ortyx virginianus. They feed on the open prairies on grass-seeds, grains, berries, and insects, and, if alarmed, take refuge among the scattered mesquite-trees and clumps of bushes. When hunted, they lie to the dog in the manner of the common species, and, if flushed, fly in a direct line, with a loud whirring noise, caused by the shortness and rapid motions of the wings. An egg of this bird, found by Dr. Heermann dropped upon the road, was in form and color like that of the common Quail, but smaller.

Mr. Dresser states that in Texas this bird is known as the “Common Partridge” of the country. He found it abundant everywhere in localities suitable to its habits. Near Matamoras it was very common, and was the only species of Quail he noticed there. At Eagle Pass and Piedras Negras, where the soil is sandy, the grass scanty, and cacti abundant, he saw only one bevy, but plenty of the Callipepla squamata. Near San Antonio only this Quail is found, nor did he observe any other species in travelling towards the northeast. Amongst the Bandara Hills, where he met with the Massena Partridge, he also found the Texan Quail in the valley and near the maize-fields. In travelling from Brownsville to San Antonio the Texan Quail was everywhere abundant except in the sand-deserts. This species was found to be rather irregular as to its breeding-season, as he found young birds near Matamoras early in July, and in September again met with quite young birds near the Nueces River, and Dr. Heermann informed him that he had likewise procured eggs near San Antonio late in September. He obtained a set of their eggs taken near San Antonio, which are very similar to those of the Ortyx virginianus, but are slightly smaller.

GENUS OREORTYX, BAIRD.

Oreortyx, BAIRD, Birds of N. Am. 1858. (Type, Ortyx picta, DOUGLAS.)

GEN. CHAR. Body stout, broad; bill large; a crest of two or three much elongated linear feathers, springing from the middle of the vertex; tail short, broad, scarcely more than half the wing, rounded, the longest feathers not much exceeding the coverts. Legs developed, the claws extending beyond the tip of the tail; the lateral toes short, the outer claw falling considerably short of the base of the middle. Very similar to Ortyx, except in the crest. Sexes similar.

Oreortyx pictus, BAIRD.

PLUMED PARTRIDGE; MOUNTAIN QUAIL.

Ortyx picta, DOUGLAS, Trans. Linn. Soc. XVI, 1829, 143. Callipepla picta, GOULD, Mon. Odont. pl. xv.—NEWBERRY, Rep. P. R. R. VI, IV, 1857, 93.—HEERM. X, s. 61. Ortyx plumifera, GOULD, Pr. Zoöl. Soc. V, 1837, 42.—AUD. Syn. 1839, 200.—IB. Birds Amer. V. 1842, 69, pl. ccxci. Perdix plumifera, AUD. Orn. Biog. V, 1839, 220, pl. ccccxxii. Lophortyx plumifera, NUTTALL, Man. I, (2d ed.,) 1840, 791. Oreortyx pictus, BAIRD, Birds N. Am. 1858, 642.—COOPER & SUCKLEY, 225.—COOPER, Orn. Cal. I, 1870, 546.

SP. CHAR. Head with a crest of two straight feathers, much longer than the bill and head. Anterior half of the body grayish-plumbeous; the upper parts generally olivaceous-brown with a slight shade of rufous, this extending narrowly along the nape to the crest. Head beneath the eyes and throat orange-chestnut, bordered along the orbits and a short distance behind by black, bounded anteriorly and superiorly by white, of which color is a short line behind the eye. Posterior half of the body beneath white; a large central patch anteriorly (bifurcating behind), with the flanks and tibial feathers, orange chestnut-brown; the sides of body showing black and white bands, the former color tinged with chestnut. Under tail-coverts black, streaked with orange-chestnut. Upper tertials margined internally with whitish. Female differing only in slightly shorter crest. Length, 10.50; wing, 5.00; tail, 3.25. Juv. Body, generally, pale brown, the feathers of the upper parts minutely barred with darker, and with medial shaft-streaks of blackish; lower plumage plain brown. Breast clear ashy, presenting a well-defined area. Head pale brown, similar to, but lighter than, the body, with a conspicuous vertical and lateral (auricular) broad stripe of dark umber-brown. Feathers of the flanks blackish, broadly bordered with dingy whitish. A short truncated tuft of hair-like feathers on the crown. (Described from figures in Grayson’s plate.)

HAB. Mountain-ranges of California and Oregon towards the coast. Nevada (eastern slope and foot-hills of the Sierra Nevada; RIDGWAY).

There are two quite different races of this species, but which, however, pass gradually into each other, and must be considered as merely the extremes of one species. They may be defined as follows:—

1. Var. pictus. Pure ash confined to the pectoral region; the russet-brown or rusty-olivaceous of the upper parts covering whole neck and crown; forehead entirely ashy. ♂. Wing, 5.25; tarsus shorter than middle toe (1.27; middle toe, 1.30). Hab. Washington Territory, Oregon, and upper coast region of California.

2. Var. plumiferus. Pure ash covering whole pectoral region, and crown, nape, and upper part of back; the grayish-olivaceous above confined to the posterior parts. Forehead distinctly whitish. Wing, 5.25; tarsus longer than middle toe (1.27; middle toe, 1.25). Hab. Sierra Nevada, and Southern California to Cape St. Lucas.

HABITS. The Mountain Quail of California is said by Dr. Newberry to be similar in some respects to the common Partridge of Europe. It is nowhere very common, but occurs sparingly throughout the entire length of California and Oregon to at least the Columbia, and probably beyond it, having much the same range with the californicus, though everywhere a rarer bird, and always confined to the hills and mountains. Its habits are similar to those of the other species of this family, but it is less gregarious, and is more shy. It is usually found in the chaparral, where it is put up with difficulty, as it seeks safety by running on the ground rather than by flight. On the first of August, at the base of Lassen’s Butte, Dr. Newberry found a solitary hen with a brood of very young chicks. The brood scattered like young Partridges, uttering a piping note like that of young chickens, and when all was still again were recalled by the mother with a cluck, much like the call of the common Hen. The party frequently saw coveys and broods of these birds, the young of which were about half grown, until they reached the plains of Pit River. None were seen in the Klamath Lake basin, the country being too bare and flat. They were again met with among the hills bordering the Willamette Valley, and were found from the Columbia, almost uninterruptedly through the Siskiyou, Calapooza, and Trinity Mountains to California. They are favorite pets with the miners, by whom they are frequently kept in confinement, and not unfrequently command a high price. Their flesh is said to be white and excellent, and fully equal to that of any of the family.

According to Dr. Cooper, this Quail is very rare in Washington Territory, a few small coveys having been met with about Vancouver, as he was informed by the officers in the garrison. He never succeeded in finding any, though he hunted for them several times with a dog. They became quite common south of the Columbia, towards the prairies of the Willamette. He inquired especially for them in other parts of the Territory, but never heard of them. In California, south of San Francisco, this bird is said to be a rare curiosity to the market-hunters, one or two sometimes occurring among flocks of the California Quail. It is known to them as the Mountain Quail. Dr. Suckley states that the birds in the Willamette Valley were introduced there, and that they are now multiplying rapidly upon the prairies back of Fort Vancouver. With a very little care it is thought the whole of the Territory may become well stocked with them, as the absence of foxes west of the Cascade Mountains and the mild open winters are favorable for their increase.

Dr. Heermann found the birds of this species wild and difficult to procure, flying and scattering at the least symptom of danger, and again calling each other together with a note expressive of great solicitude, much resembling that of a Hen-Turkey gathering her brood around her. During the survey he observed these birds only once, and then but for a few minutes, as they were passing through a deep cañon leading down to Elizabeth Lake. They were seen by the hunters on the mountains surrounding Tejon Valley; but though he went several times in search of them, he obtained none.

Mr. Ridgway met with the Mountain Quail on the foot-hills of the Sierra Nevada, in the vicinity of Genoa and Carson City, and also in the mountain-ranges lying immediately to the eastward of the Sierra. It was quite rare and very difficult to discover, and when found was generally met with accidentally. He obtained it in November in the thick chaparral at the eastern base of the Sierra Nevada. In May he secured a pair in the cedar woods a little to the eastward of Carson City, and in December a flock was met with on the Comstock Mountains near Pyramid Lake. Its call-note when a flock is scattered is almost exactly like that of a Hen-Turkey, only proportionally weaker. When a flock is startled, they utter a confused chuckling note, something like that of the common eastern Quail. The male has a very pleasant crowing-note, which sounds some like koo-koo-koóe. The settlers in Nevada say that, previous to the settlement of that country by the whites, this Quail was not found east of the Sierra Nevada, and affirm that they followed the wagon-roads over the mountains, in the rear of trains and wagons, for the purpose of picking up the grain scattered along the road. Mr. Ridgway does not give full credit to the truth of these statements, as he was informed by the Indians at Pyramid Lake, that, within the memory of the oldest members of their tribe, it had always been found in that vicinity.

An egg of this species taken by Dr. Canfield, near Monterey, California, measures 1.45 inches in length by 1.10 in breadth. It is oval in shape; one end is considerably more pointed than the other. It is of a very rich cream-color, with a reddish shading, and unspotted.

GENUS LOPHORTYX, BONAPARTE.

Lophortyx, BONAP. Geog. & Comp. List, 1838. (Type, Tetrao californicus, SHAW.)

GEN. CHAR. Head with a crest of lengthened feathers springing from the vertex, the shafts in the same vertical plane, and the webs roof-shaped and overlapping each other; the number varies from two to six or more; they widen to the tip, where they are slightly recurved. Tail lengthened and graduated, nearly as long as the wing, composed of twelve stiff feathers. Wings with the tertials not as long as the primaries; the coverts without any unusual development. Claws rather short; the lateral reaching to, but scarcely beyond the base of the middle; the outstretched toe not reaching the tip of the tail. Sexes very different.

The two North American species of the genus have the anterior half of the body, and the upper parts generally, plumbeous; the feathers of neck above, and on the sides, pointed and margined with black. There is a white bar across the head above, between the eyes, which, passing backwards, is bordered behind and internally by black; a second commences at the posterior border of the eye, and then borders the black of the chin and throat laterally and behind, the black reaching up to the eye and bordered anteriorly by a white line from eye to bill; belly pale buff, with a large spot in the centre; the flanks streaked with white. The diagnoses of the species are as follows:—

Vertex and occiput light smoky olive-brown; forehead whitish; patch in the middle of the belly orange-chestnut; feathers of breast with narrow black edges; sides of body olivaceous-plumbeous …

L. californicus.

Vertex and occiput clear chestnut-brown; forehead blackish; patch in middle of belly black; none of the belly-feathers with black edges; sides of body bright chestnut …

L. gambeli.

[Plate: PLATE LXIV.

1. Lophortyx californicus. ♂ Cal., 93090. 2. Lophortyx californicus. ♀ Cal., 3936. 3. Cyrtonyx massena. ♂ Texas, 10258. 4. Lophortyx gambelli. ♂ Ariz., 9378. 5. Lophortyx gambelli. ♀ Ariz., 9361. 6. Cyrtonyx massena. ♀ Texas, 10256.]

Lophortyx californicus, BONAP.

CALIFORNIA QUAIL.

Tetrao californicus, SHAW, Nat. Misc. pl. cccxlv (prior to 1801). Perdix californica, LATHAM, Suppl. Ind. Orn. II, App. 1801, p. lxii.—AUD. Orn. Biog. V. 1839, 152, pl. ccccxiii.—HUTCHINGS, Cal. Mag. II, 1857, 24 (woodcut of bird and its eggs). Ortyx californica, STEPHENS in Shaw’s Zool. XI, 1819, 384.—JARDINE, Game Birds, Nat. Libr. IV, 104, pl. xi.—CUV. R. An. Illust. ed. Oiseaux, pl. lxiv.—BENNETT, Gardens & Menag. Zoöl. Soc. II, 29 (woodcut).—AUD. Syn. 1839, 199.—Ib. Birds Amer. V, 1842, 67, pl. ccxc. Perdix (Ortyx) californica, BONAP. Syn. 1828, 125. Lophortyx californica, BONAP. List, 1838.—NUTTALL, Man. I, (2d ed.,) 1840, 789.—BAIRD, Birds N. Am. 1858, 644.—GRAY, Cat. Brit. Mus. V, 1867, 78.—COOPER & SUCKLEY, 226 (to Columbia River).—COOPER, Orn. Cal. I, 1870, 549. Callipepla californica, GOULD, Mon. Odont. pl. xvi.—REICHENBACH, Av. Syst. 1850, pl. xxvii.—NEWBERRY, Rep. P. R. R. VI, iv, 1857, 92.

SP. CHAR. Crest black. Anterior half of body and upper parts plumbeous; the wings and back glossed with olive-brown. Anterior half of head above brownish-yellow, the shafts of the stiff feathers black; behind this is a white transverse band which passes back along the side of the crown; within this white, anteriorly and laterally, is a black suffusion. The vertex and occiput are light brown. Chin and throat black, margined laterally and behind by a white band, beginning behind the eye. Belly pale buff anteriorly (an orange-brown rounded patch in the middle) and white laterally, the feathers all margined abruptly with black. The feathers on the sides of body like the back, streaked centrally with white. Feathers of top and sides of neck with the margins and shafts black. Under tail-coverts buff, broadly streaked centrally with brown.

Female similar, without the white and black of the head; the feathers of the throat brownish-yellow, streaked with brown. The buff and orange-brown of the belly wanting. The crest short. Length, 9.50; wing, 4.32; tail, 4.12.

Young. Head as in the adult female. Upper parts pale brown, finely mottled transversely with black; scapulars and feathers of the back with yellowish-white shaft-streaks, widening at the end of the feather, and with a large black spot on each web.

Chick. Ground-color dingy white, tinged on the head, wings, and upper parts with pale rusty. A broad stripe on occiput and nape umber-brown; upper parts with rather confused and rather elongated mottlings; an indistinct auricular spot. Beneath plain dull white.

HAB. Valley portions and foot-hills of the Pacific Province of the United States, south to Cape St. Lucas.

HABITS. This beautiful species, according to Dr. Newberry, is called the Valley Quail in California, to distinguish it from the Plumed Quail, which inhabits the hills and the highlands, and is called the Mountain Quail. The common Valley Quail of California inhabits the prairies and the grain-fields of the cultivated districts, and frequents the thickets which border the streams, usually in coveys of from a dozen to a hundred individuals, except during the breeding-season, when it is found only in pairs. Like the eastern Quail, the male bird is very fond of sitting on some stump or log projecting above the grass and weeds which conceal his mate and nest or brood, and, especially in the early morning, uttering his peculiar cry,—whistle it can hardly be called. This note is spoken of as being rather harsh and disagreeable than otherwise, and somewhat resembling that of some of the Woodpeckers. Dr. Newberry adds that it may be represented by the syllables kûck-kûck-kûck-kā, the first three notes being rapidly repeated, the last prolonged with a falling inflection. As a game bird he regards this Quail as inferior to the eastern one, though of equal excellence for the table. It does not lie so well to the dog, does not afford as good sport, and takes to a tree much more readily than the eastern Quail. It is found in all the valleys of California and Oregon, both those in the interior and those that open on the coast. It is not found in the deep forests, nor on the mountains at any considerable elevation, nor in the interior basin where water and vegetation are scarce. Specimens were taken by his party in different parts of the Sacramento Valley, at Fort Jones, and in the Willamette Valley, near the Columbia. In all these there was no appreciable difference. This bird is said to make no elaborate nest, but to lay a large number of eggs on the ground, which are generally hatched in June. This bird is susceptible of domestication, and forms quite an ornament for parks, in which they thrive with proper care.

Dr. Suckley states that this Quail was successfully introduced into Washington Territory, on the prairies near Puget Sound, in the spring of 1857, by Governor Charles H. Mason and Mr. Goldsborough. Two lots were introduced, and by the following winter had increased largely. Mr. Gibbs mentions having met with great numbers of these birds on Russian River in 1851, and again on the Klamath in 1852. They were very tame, but took to the bushes when disturbed, perching on the limbs. Like the Sharp-tailed Grouse, they gathered in large flocks. This was the case even when young, and it has been thence inferred that several females belong to one male, and with their broods all run together.

Dr. Kennerly states that his party first met with this beautiful Partridge upon reaching the waters of the Mohave River, and during the march up the stream he found it very abundant, as well as among the settlements along the coast. He could perceive no difference in its habits from those of Lophortyx gambeli.

Dr. Heermann states that he found the California Quail very numerous as far south as Vallecita, where commences the desert that extends to the Colorado, forming an apparently impassable barrier between it and the closely allied species, Gambel’s Partridge. When flushed from the ground, it invariably flies to the trees, if in a wooded country, where it squats so closely lengthwise on a branch that it can rarely be seen when thus hidden. It will not lie to a dog, but runs until it is forced to fly. It may be readily tamed, and in California is often domesticated with the poultry. Several years since, according to Dr. Heermann, an attempt was made to introduce these birds into Long Island, which at first promised to be successful; but unfortunately, after the first season, they were all exterminated by the gunners for the New York market.

Mr. Ridgway met with this species only on the west slope of the Sierra Nevada, and at an altitude of not more than four or five thousand feet. He had no opportunity to learn anything in regard to its habits, but was enabled to listen to its notes. The call-note of the male is very peculiar, and resembles somewhat the syllables kuck-kuck-kēē, the accent being on the last syllable. The common note of the male bird, when disturbed with its mate in the bushes, and probably having a brood of young in the vicinity, was a sharp pit, precisely like the common note of the Cardinal Grosbeak.

The nest of this bird is made in the open field, or at the foot of a bush, and is composed of loose grasses arranged without much care. The eggs are said to be twelve or sixteen in number, and are yellowish or grayish white, spotted and dashed with dark brown or burnt-umber.

Mr. Titian R. Peale, in his Notes on the Wilkes expedition, mentions observing this species in the mountainous regions of Southern Oregon, near the 43d degree of north latitude, which he regarded as their farthest northern range. He frequently observed them collecting at night to roost in trees. At such times their call-note was plaintive, and had a slight resemblance to the words cut-cut-cut-me-too. Specimens of this bird were taken alive, kept by members of the expedition, and brought to the city of Washington by a route equal to the circumference of the globe, where they produced one brood of young.

Soda Lake, the “sink” of the Mohave River, the bed of which is usually quite dry, except in spots, for many miles, is said by Dr. Coues to be just where this species and the L. gambeli find a neutral ground, the western bird following the watercourses until arrested by the desert.

Mr. Xantus found this Quail breeding in great abundance at Cape St. Lucas. In one instance he found four eggs on the bare sand, under a pile of driftwood, without any trace of a nest. In another, three eggs were found on the bare ground, under a fallen cactus. In a third case there were nine eggs, also laid on the bare ground, but in the shade of a jasmine-bush. They were frequently found sheltered under piles of driftwood.

The eggs of this Quail are subject to great variations in marking, and also differ somewhat in size. They are sharply pointed at one end and rounded at the other. One egg, measuring 1.30 in length by 1.00 in breadth, has a ground-color of a creamy white, freckled with markings of a uniform shading of an olivaceous-drab. Another, measuring 1.22 by .91 inches, has the ground-color of the same, but the markings are larger and more confluent, and their color is a rusty drab. A third is 1.18 by .95 inches; ground-color a creamy white marked by large scattered spots of a chestnut-brown.

Lophortyx gambeli, GAMBEL.

GAMBEL’S QUAIL.

Lophortyx gambeli, “NUTTALL,” GAMBEL, P. A. N. S. Philad. I, 1843, 260.—MCCALL, P. A. N. S. V, June, 1851, 221.—BAIRD, Birds N. Am. 1858, 645.—IB. Mex. B. II, Birds, 22.—DRESSER, Ibis, 1866, 28(Rio Grande to Nueces; breeds).—COUES, P. A. N. S. 1866, 94 (Fort Whipple, Arizona).—IB. Ibis, 1866, 46 (habits).—GRAY, Cat. Brit. Mus. V, 1867, 79.—HEERM. P. R. R. R. X, C, 19.—IB. X, S, 60.—COOPER, Orn. Cal. I, 1870, 553. Callipepla gambeli, GOULD, Mon. Odont. pl. xvii.—CASS. Illust. I, II, 1853, 45, pl. ix. Callipepla venusta, GOULD, P. Z. S. XIV, 1846, 70.

SP. CHAR. General color cinereous; abdomen plain whitish; inner or upper webs of tertials broadly edged with white. Elongated feathers of the sides bright chestnut with a medial streak of white.

Male. The ash on the breast of a bluish cast, and the whitish of the belly strongly tinged with yellowish-buff, especially anteriorly; abdomen with a black patch. Anterior half of the head, and whole throat, deep black, bordered posteriorly with two broad, well-defined stripes of white,—the upper of these crossing the middle of the vertex and running backward above the auriculars to the occiput; the other beginning at the posterior angle of the eye and running downward. Vertex and occiput bright rufous, bounded anteriorly and laterally with black. Crest of black elongated, club-shaped, and considerably recurved feathers, springing from the vertex just behind the black bar, one and a half inches long. Wing, 4.70; tail, 4.30; bill, .50 long, and .25 deep; tarsus, 1.15; middle toe, 1.15.

Female. Head plain grayish, without white, black, or rufous; no black on abdomen, which also lacks a decided buff tinge; the cinereous of breast without bluish cast. Crest dusky, less than one inch long. Wing, 4.55; tail, 4.20.

Young. Upper parts ashy brown, minutely and indistinctly mottled transversely with dusky; scapulars and wing-coverts with white shaft-streaks, the former with pairs of dusky spots. Breast and sides with obsolete whitish bars on an ashy ground.

Chick. Dull sulphur-yellowish; a vertical patch, and two parallel stripes along each side of the back (four altogether), black. (Described from Grayson’s plate.)

HAB. Colorado Valley of the United States; north to Southern Utah, and east to Western Texas.

An adult male collected in Southern Utah by Mr. Henshaw of Lieutenant Wheeler’s Expedition differs from all others which we have seen, including a large series from the same locality, in having the abdomen chiefly plumbeous, with a few cloudings of black, in the place of a uniformly black patch. Except in this respect, however, it does not differ at all from other adult male specimens.

HABITS. Gambel’s Partridge was obtained by Dr. Kennerly, near San Elizario, Texas, and on Colorado River, California, by Mr. A. Schott, and also by Dr. Kennerly. It was not observed by Dr. Kennerly until he reached the valley of the Rio Grande, nor did he meet with any farther west, in any part of Mexico, than San Bernardino, in Sonora. Though closely resembling in its habits the Scaly Partridge (Callipepla squamata), and in some instances occupying the same districts, he never found the two species together.

According to Mr. J. H. Clark, this species was not met with east of the Rio Grande, nor farther south than Presidio del Norte. Unlike the squamata, it is very common for this species to sit on the branches of trees and bushes, particularly the male, where the latter is said to utter the most sad and wailing notes. They are so very tame as to come about the Mexican towns, the inhabitants of which, however, never make any effort to capture them. They only inhabit wooded and well-watered regions, and are said to feed indifferently on insects or on berries; in summer they make the patches of Solanum their home, feeding on its quite palatable fruit. When flushed, this Quail always seeks the trees, and hides successfully among the branches.

Dr. Kennerly found this beautiful species in great numbers during the march of his party up the Rio Grande. Large flocks were continually crossing the road before them, or were seen huddled together under a bush. After passing the river he met with them again so abundantly along Partridge Creek as to give rise to the name of that stream. Thence to the Great Colorado he occasionally saw them, but after leaving that river they were not again seen. They are said to become quite tame and half domesticated where they are not molested. When pursued, they can seldom be made to fly, depending more upon their feet as a mode of escape than upon their wings. They run very rapidly, but seldom, if ever, hide, and remain close in the grass or bushes in the manner of the eastern Quail.

From Fort Yuma, on the Colorado River, to Eagle Springs, between El Paso and San Antonio, where he last saw a flock of these birds, Dr. Heermann states he found them more or less abundant whenever the party followed the course of the Gila, or met with water-holes or streams of any kind. Although they frequent the most arid portions of the country, where they find a scanty subsistence of grass-seed, mesquite leaves, and insects, they yet manifest a marked preference for the habitations of man, and were much more numerous in the cultivated fields of Tucson, Mesilla Valley, and El Paso. Towards evening, in the vicinity of the Mexican villages, the loud call-notes of the male birds may be heard, gathering the scattered members of the flocks, previous to issuing from the cover where they have been concealed during the day. Resorting to the trails and the roads in search of subsistence, while thus engaged they utter a low soft note which keeps the flock together. They are not of a wild nature, often permit a near approach, seldom fly unless suddenly flushed, and seem to prefer to escape from danger by retreating to dense thickets. In another report Dr. Heermann mentions finding this species in California on the Mohave desert, at the point where the river empties into a large salt lake forming its terminus. The flock was wild, and could not be approached. Afterwards he observed them on the Big Lagoon of New River. At Fort Yuma they were quite abundant, congregating in large coveys, frequenting the thick underwood in the vicinity of the mesquite-trees. Their stomachs were found to be filled with the seeds of the mesquite, a few grass-seeds, and the berries of a parasitic plant. On being suddenly flushed these birds separate very widely, but immediately upon alighting commence their call-note, resembling the soft chirp of a young chicken, which is kept up for some time. The alarm over, and the flock once more reunited, they relapse into silence, only broken by an occasional cluck of the male bird. Once scattered they cannot be readily started again, as they lie close in their thick, bushy, and impenetrable coverts. Near Fort Yuma the Indians catch them in snares, and bring them in great numbers for sale.

Dr. Samuel W. Woodhouse first met with this species on the Rio Grande, about fifty miles below El Paso, up to which place it was extremely abundant. It was by no means a shy bird, frequently coming about the houses; and he very often observed the males perched on the top of a high bush, uttering their peculiarly mournful calls. He found it in quite large flocks, feeding principally on seeds and berries. It became scarce as he approached Doña Ana, above which place he did not meet with it again. He again encountered it, however, near the head of Bill Williams River, and afterwards on the Tampia Creek, and it was exceedingly abundant all along the Great Colorado. He was informed that they are never found west of the Coast Range, in California. About Camp Yuma, below the mouth of the Gila River, they were very abundant and very tame, coming quite near the men, and picking up the grain wasted by the mules. They are trapped in great numbers by the Indians.

This Quail is given by Mr. Dresser as occurring in Texas, but not as a common bird, and only found in certain localities. At Muddy Creek, near Fort Clark, they were not uncommon, and were also found near the Nueces River.

Dr. Coues (Ibis, 1866), in a monograph upon this species, describes its carriage upon the ground as being firm and erect, and at the same time light and easy, and with colors no less pleasing than its form. He found them to be exceedingly abundant in Arizona, and soon after his arrival in the Territory he came upon a brood that was just out of the egg. They were, however, so active, and hid themselves so dexterously, that he could not catch one. This was late in July, and throughout the following month he met broods only a few days old. The following spring he found the old birds mated by April 25, and met with the first chick on the first of June. He infers that this species is in incubation during the whole of May, June, July, and a part of August, and that they raise two, and even three, broods in a season.

A single brood sometimes embraces from fifteen to twenty young, which by October are nearly as large as their parents. While under the care of the latter they keep very close together, and when alarmed either run away rapidly or squat so closely as to be difficult to flush, and, when forced up, they soon alight again. They often take to low limbs of trees, huddle closely together, and permit a close approach. The first intimation that a bevy is near is a single note repeated two or three times, followed by the rustling of leaves as the flock start to run.

These birds are said to be found in almost every locality except thick pine-woods without undergrowth, and are particularly fond of thick willow copses, heavy chaparral, and briery undergrowth. They prefer seeds and fruit, but insects also form a large part of their food. In the early spring they feed extensively on the tender fresh buds of young willows, which give to their flesh a bitter taste.

This Quail is said to have three distinct notes,—the common cry uttered on all occasions of alarm or to call the bevy together, which is a single mellow clear “chink,” with a metallic resonance, repeated an indefinite number of times; then a clear, loud, energetic whistle, resembling the syllables killink-killink, chiefly heard during the pairing-season, and is analogous to the bob-white of the common Quail; the third is its love-song, than which, Dr. Coues adds, nothing more unmusical can well be imagined. It is uttered by the male, and only when the female is incubating. This song is poured forth both at sunrise and at sunset, from some topmost twig near the spot where his mate is sitting on her treasures; and with outstretched neck, drooping wings, and plume negligently dangling, he gives utterance to his odd, guttural, energetic notes.

The flight of these birds is exceedingly rapid and vigorous, and is always even and direct, and in shooting only requires a quick hand and eye.

In his journey from Arizona to the Pacific, Dr. Coues found these birds singularly abundant along the valley of the Colorado; and he was again struck with its indifference as to its place of residence, being equally at home in scorched mesquite thickets, dusting itself in sand that would blister the naked feet, the thermometer at 117° Fah. in the shade, and in the mountains of Northern Arizona, when the pine boughs were bending under the weight of the snow. He also states that Dr. Cooper, while at Fort Mohave, brought up some young Gambel’s Quails by placing the eggs under a common Hen, and found no difficulty in domesticating them, so that they associated freely with the barnyard fowls. The eggs, he adds, are white, or yellowish-white, with brown spots, and were hatched out in twenty-four days. The nest is said to be a rather rude structure, about eight inches wide, and is usually hidden in the grass. The eggs number from twelve to seventeen.

Captain S. G. French, quoted by Mr. Cassin, writes that he met with this species on the Rio Grande, seventy miles below El Paso, and from that point to the place named their numbers constantly increased. They appeared to be partial to the abodes of man, and were very numerous about the old and decayed buildings, gardens, fields, and vineyards around Presidio, Isoleta, and El Paso. During his stay there in the summer of 1851, every morning and evening their welcome call was heard all around; and at early and late hours they were constantly to be found in the sandy roads and paths near the villages and farms. In the middle of the hot summer days, however, they rested in the sand, under the shade and protection of the thick chaparral. When disturbed, they glided through the bushes very swiftly, seldom resorting to flight, uttering a peculiar chirping note. The parents would utter the same chirping cry whenever an attempt was made to capture their young. The male and female bird were always found with the young, showing much affection for them, and even endeavoring to attract attention away from them by their actions and cries.

Colonel McCall (Proc. Phil. Ac., June, 1851) also gives an account of this bird, as met with by him in Western Texas, between San Antonio and the Rio Grande River, as well as in New Mexico. He did not fall in with it until he had reached the Limpia River, a hundred miles west of the Pecos, in Texas, where the Acacia glandulosa was more or less common, and the mesquite grasses and other plants bearing nutritious seeds were abundant. There they were very numerous and very fat, and much disposed to seek the farms and cultivate the acquaintance of man. About the rancho of Mr. White, near El Paso, he found them very numerous, and, in flocks of fifty or a hundred, resorting morning and evening to the barnyard, feeding around the grain-stacks in company with the poultry, and receiving their portion from the hand of the owner. He found them distributed through the country from the Limpia to the Rio Grande, and along the latter river from Eagle Spring Pass to Doña Ana.

The same careful observer, in a communication to Mr. Cassin, gives the western limit of this species. He thinks it is confined to a narrow belt of country between the 31st and 34th parallels of latitude, from the Pecos River, in Texas, to the Sierra Nevada and the contiguous desert in California. It has not been found on the western side of these mountains. Colonel McCall met with it at Alamo Mucho, forty-four miles west of the Colorado River. West of this stretches a desolate waste of sand,—a barrier which effectually separates this species from its ally, the California Quail.

This species is known to be abundant in the country around the sources of the Gila River, and has also been found along that river from the Pimo villages to its mouth, and there is no doubt that it inhabits the entire valley of the Gila. It was also common along the Colorado River, as far as the mouth of the Gila, and has been met with in that valley as high up as Tampia Creek, latitude 34°.

Colonel McCall regards this species as less wild and vigilant than the California species. It is later in breeding, as coveys of young California Quails were seen, one fourth grown, June 4, while all the birds of Gambel’s were without their young as late as June 16. The voice of the male at this season is described as strikingly rich and full. The cry may be imitated by slowly pronouncing in a low tone the syllables kaa-wale, kaa-wale. When the day is calm and still, these notes may be heard to a surprising distance. This song is continued, at short intervals, in the evening, for about an hour. Later in the season when a covey is dispersed, the cry for reassembling is said to resemble qua-el qua-el. The voice of this bird at all seasons bears a great resemblance to that of the California Quail, but has no resemblance to that of the eastern Ortyx virginiana. In their crops were found the leaves of the mesquite, coleopterous insects, wild gooseberries, etc.

An egg of this species, taken by Dr. Palmer at Camp Grant, measures 1.25 inches in length by 1.00 in breadth. The ground-color is a cream white, beautifully marked with ragged spots of a deep chestnut. In shape it closely corresponds with the egg of the California Partridge.

GENUS CALLIPEPLA, WAGLER.

Callipepla, WAGLER, Isis, 1832. (Type, Ortyx squamata, VIG.)

GEN. CHAR. Head with a broad, short, depressed tufted crest of soft, thick feathers springing from the vertex. Other character, as in Lophortyx. Sexes similar.

The single United States species is of a bluish tint, without any marked contrast of color. The feathers of the neck, breast, and belly have a narrow edging of black.

Callipepla squamata, GRAY.

SCALED OR BLUE PARTRIDGE.

Ortyx squamatus, VIGORS, Zoöl. Journ. V, 1830, 275.—ABERT, Pr. A. N. Sc. III, 1847, 221. Callipepla squamata, GRAY, Gen. III, 1846, 514.—M’CALL, Pr. A. N. Sc. V, 1851, 222.—CASSIN, Ill. I, v, 1854, 129; pl. xix.—GOULD, Mon. Odont. pl. xix.—BAIRD, Birds N. Am. 1858, 646.—IB. Mex. B. II, Birds, 23.—GRAY, Cat. Brit. Mus. V, 1867, 78.—HEERM. X, C, 19.—COOP. Orn. Cal. I, 1870, 556. _Callipepla strenua_, WAGLER, Isis, XXV, 1832, 278. Tetrao cristata, DE LA LLAVE, Registro trimestre, I, 1832, 144.

SP. CHAR. Head with a full, broad, flattened crest of soft elongated feathers. Prevailing color plumbeous-gray, with a fine bluish cast on jugulum and nape, whitish on the belly, the central portion of which is more or less tinged with brownish; sometimes a conspicuous abdominal patch of dark rusty, the exposed surface of the wings tinged with light yellowish-brown, and very finely and almost imperceptibly mottled. Head and throat without markings, light grayish-plumbeous; throat tinged with yellowish-brown. Feathers of neck, upper part of back, and under parts generally, except on the sides and behind, with a narrow but well-defined margin of blackish, producing the effect of imbricated scales. Feathers on the sides streaked centrally with white. Inner edge of inner tertials, and tips of long feathers of the crest, whitish. Crissum rusty-white, streaked with rusty. Female similar. Length, 9.50; wing, 4.80; tail, 4.10.

HAB. Table-lands of Mexico and valley of Rio Grande of Texas. Most abundant on the high broken table-lands and mesquite plains.

HABITS. This bird was first described as a Mexican species in 1830 by Mr. Vigors. For a long while it has been an extremely rare species in collections, and its history, habits, and distribution remained unknown until the explorations of the naturalists made in the surveys under the direction of the national government. It was first noticed within the territory of the United States by Lieutenant Abert, Topographical Engineer, who, in his Report of the examination of New Mexico, furnishes several notes in relation to this species. In November, 1846, he mentions that, after having passed through Las Casas, while descending through a crooked ravine strewed with fragments of rocks, he saw several flocks of this species. They were running along with great velocity among the clumps of the kreosote plant. At the report of the gun only three or four rose up, the rest seeming to depend chiefly on their fleetness of foot. Their stomachs were found to be filled with grass-seeds and hemipterous insects.

Captain S. G. French, in notes quoted by Mr. Cassin, mentions meeting with these birds, in the same year, near Camargo, on the Rio Grande. At Monterey none were seen; but on the plains of Agua Nueva, a few miles south of Saltillo, they were observed in considerable numbers. He afterwards met with them on the Upper Rio Grande, in the vicinity of El Paso. Though found in the same section of country with Gambel’s Quail, they were not observed to associate together in the same flock. Their favorite resorts were sandy chaparral and mesquite bushes. Through these they ran with great swiftness, resorting only, when greatly alarmed by a sudden approach, to their wings. They were very shy, and were seldom found near habitations, though once a large covey ran through his camp in the suburbs of El Paso.

Colonel McCall (Proc. Phil. Ac. V, p. 222) mentions meeting with this species throughout an extended region, from Camargo, on the Lower Rio Grande, to Santa Fé. They were most numerous between the latter place and Doña Ana, preferring the vicinity of watercourses to interior tracts. They were wild, exceedingly watchful, and swift of foot, eluding pursuit with surprising skill, scarcely ever resorting to flight even on the open sandy ground. For the table they are said to possess, in a high degree, the requisites of plump muscle and delicate flavor.

In a subsequent sketch of this species, quoted by Mr. Cassin, the same writer gives as the habitat the entire valley of the Rio Grande,—a territory of great extent from north to south, and embracing in its stretch between the Rocky Mountains and the Gulf of Mexico every variety of climate. This entire region, not excepting even the mountain valleys covered in winter with deep snow, is inhabited by it. It was found by him from the 25th to the 38th degree of north latitude, or from below Monterey, in Mexico, along the borders of the San Juan River, as high up as the Taos and other northern branches of the Rio Grande. He also found it near the head of the Riado Creek, which rises in the Rocky Mountains and runs eastwardly to the Canadian.

Wherever found, they are always resident, proving their ability to endure great extremes of heat and cold. In swiftness of foot, no species of this family can compete with them. When running, they hold their heads high and keep the body erect, and seem to skim over the surface of the ground, their white plume erected and spread out like a fan.

On the Mexican side of the Rio Grande this species is found farther south than on the western bank, owing to the rugged character of the country. In Texas its extreme southern point is a little above Reinosa, on the first highlands on the bank.

Don Pablo de la Llave, a Mexican naturalist, states, in an account of this species (Registro Trimestre, I, p. 144, Mexico, 1832), that he attempted its domestication in vain. In confinement it was very timid, all its movements were rapid, and, although he fed his specimens for a long time each day, they seemed to become more wild and intractable. It was found by him in all the mesquite regions of Northern Mexico.

Specimens of this Partridge were taken near San Pedro, Texas, by Mr. J. H. Clark, and in New Leon, Mexico, by Lieutenant Couch. According to Mr. Clark, they are not found on the grassy prairies near the coast. He met with them on Devil’s River, in Texas, where his attention was at first directed to them by their very peculiar note, which, when first heard, suggested to him the cry of some species of squirrel. In the valley of the Lower Rio Grande he also met with these birds in companies of a dozen or more. Their food, on the prairies, appeared to be entirely insectivorous; while on the Lower Rio Grande all the specimens that were procured had their bills stained with the berries of the opuntia. They were not shy, and would rather get out of the way by running than by flying. At no time, and under no circumstances, were they known to alight in bushes or in trees. They were only known to make mere scratches in the ground for nests, and their situations were very carelessly selected. Young birds were found in June and in July.

Lieutenant Couch first met with this species about sixty leagues west of Matamoras, and not until free from the prairies and bottom-land. It was occasionally noticed, apparently associating with the Ortyx texana, to which it is very similar in habit.

Dr. Kennerly found them everywhere where there was a permanent supply of fresh water, from Limpia Creek, in Texas, to San Bernardino, in Sonora. They were met with on the mountain-sides, or on the hills among the low mesquite-bushes and barrea. They apparently rely more upon their legs than upon their wings, ascending the most precipitous cliffs or disappearing among the bushes with great rapidity.

The most western point at which Dr. Heermann observed this species was the San Pedro River, a branch of the Gila, east of Tucson. There a flock of these birds ran before him at a quick pace, with outstretched necks, heads elevated, crests erect and expanded, and soon disappeared among the thick bushes that surrounded them on all sides. After that they were seen occasionally until they arrived at Lympia Springs. Lieutenant Barton informed Dr. Heermann that he had procured this species near Fort Clark, one hundred and twenty miles west of San Antonio, where, however, it was quite rare. It was found abundantly on the open plains, often starting up before the party when passing over the most arid portions of the route. They also seemed partial to the prairie-dog villages. These, covering large tracts of ground destitute of vegetation, probably offered the attraction of some favorite insect.

Dr. Woodhouse met with this species on only one occasion, as the party was passing up the Rio Grande, at the upper end of Valleverde, on the west side of the river, on the edge of the sand-hills, feeding among the low bushes. They were exceedingly shy and quick-footed. He tried in vain to make them fly, and they evidently preferred their feet to their wings as a means of escape. He was told that they were found above Santa Fé.

Mr. Dresser found this species on the Rio Grande above Roma, and between the Rio Grande and the Nueces they were quite abundant; wherever found, they seemed to have the country to themselves to the exclusion of other species. He reports them as very difficult to shoot, for the reason that, whenever a bevy is disturbed, the birds scatter, and, running with outstretched necks and erected crests, dodge through the bushes like rabbits, so as soon to be out of reach. He has thus seen a flock of ten or fifteen disappear so entirely as to render it impossible to obtain a single one. If left undisturbed, they commence their call-note, which is not unlike the chirp of a chicken, and soon reunite. It was utterly out of the question to get them to rise, and the only way to procure specimens was to shoot them on the ground. Near the small villages in Mexico he found them very tame; and at Presidio, on the Rio Grande, he noticed them in a corral, feeding with some poultry. He did not meet with their eggs, but they were described to him, by the Mexicans, as dull white, with minute reddish spots.

The egg of the Callipepla squamata is regularly oval, being much more elongated than with any other species of this family. It measures 1.35 inches in length by .95 in breadth. Its ground-color is a creamy white, and its surface is minutely freckled with specks of a pale drab.

GENUS CYRTONYX, GOULD.

Cyrtonyx, GOULD, Mon. Odontoph.? 1845. (Type, Ortyx massena, LESSON.)

GEN. CHAR. Bill very stout and robust. Head with a broad, soft occipital crest of short decumbent feathers. Tail very short, half the length of the wings, composed of soft feathers, the longest scarcely longer than the coverts; much graduated. Wings long and broad, the coverts and tertials so much enlarged as to conceal the quills. Feet robust, extending considerably beyond the tip of the tail. Claws very large, the outer lateral reaching nearly to the middle of the central anterior. The toes without the claws, however, are very short. Sexes very different.

This genus differs very much from its North American allies in the great development of the feathers composing the wing-coverts, the very short and soft tail, and the very short toes and long claws. It is almost worthy of forming the type of a distinct subfamily, so many and great are its peculiarities. The single North American representative is the only one of our species with round white spots on the lower surface and black ones above. A second species, C. ocellatus, is found in Southern Mexico. They may be distinguished as follows:—

Species.

=C. massena.= Shaft-streaks of wing-feathers yellowish-white; sides with small round white spots, medial lower parts dark maroon-chestnut. Hab. Northern Mexico, and adjacent portions of the United States, from the Upper Rio Grande and Colorado Valleys, south to Mazatlan.

=C. ocellatus.=[117] Shaft-streaks of wing-feathers chestnut-rufous. Sides with large rufous spots, medial lower parts bright rufous, lighter anteriorly. Hab. Southern Mexico, and Guatemala.

Cyrtonyx massena, GOULD.

MASSENA PARTRIDGE.

Ortyx massena, LESSON, Cent. Zoöl. 1830, 189.—FINSCH, Abh. Nat. 1870, 357 (Guadelajara). Cyrtonyx massena, GOULD, Mon. Odont. 1850, 14; tab. vii.—M’CALL, Pr. A. N. Sc. V, 1851, 221.—CASSIN, Illust. I, I, 1853, 21, pl. xxi.—REICHENB. Syst. Av. 1850, pl. xxvii.—BAIRD, Birds N. A. 1858, 647.—IB. Mex. B. II, Birds, 23.—DRESSER, Ibis, 1866, 29 (Bandera Co., Texas; breeds).—COUES, P. A. N. S. 1866, 95 (Fort Whipple, Arizona).—GRAY, Cat. Brit. Mus. V, 1867, 74.—COOP. Orn. Cal. I, 1870, 558. Ortyx montezumæ, VIGORS, Zoöl. Jour. V, 1830, 275. Odontophorus meleagris, WAGLER, Isis, XXV, 1832, 279. _Tetrao guttata_, DE LA LLAVE, Registro Trimestre, I, 1832, 145 (CASSIN).

SP. CHAR. Male. Head striped with white, black, and lead-color; chin black. Feathers above streaked centrally with whitish, those on the outer surface of the wings with two series of rounded black spots. Central line of breast and belly dark chestnut; the abdomen, thighs, and crissum black; the sides of breast and body lead-color, with round white spots. Legs blue. Length, 8.75; wing, 7.00; tail, 2.50.

Female. Prevailing color light vinaceous-cinnamon, the upper parts barred and streaked as in the male. Head without white or black stripes. Sides with a few narrow, irregular streaks of black.

Young. Somewhat similar to the adult female, but lower parts whitish, the feathers, especially on the breast, with transverse blackish spots on both webs.

Chick. Head dingy white, with a broad occipital elliptical patch of chestnut-brown, and a blackish streak behind the eye. Above rusty-brown, obscurely spotted with black; a white stripe on each side of the rump. Beneath almost uniform dull white.

HAB. Chiefly on the Upper Rio Grande from the high plains of the Pecos. Fort Whipple, Arizona; Northern Mexico, southward, on the west coast, to Mazatlan.

HABITS. This Quail was first met with by Lieutenant Couch in the cañon Guyapuco, about twelve leagues south of Monterey. Though rather shy, they seemed quite at home in the cultivated fields and stubbles of the ranches. Mr. Clark first noticed the species among a flock of the Ortyx texana. Once, on flushing a covey of the latter, a bird was seen to remain behind, and showed no inclination to follow the rest. It attempted to hide in the grass, but did not fly, and, when shot, proved to be a Massena Quail. He says they occur either in pairs or in flocks, and when once flushed fly farther than the Virginia Quail, but do not lie so close. They may be approached within a few feet, and followed up, particularly when in pairs, running along before one like so many domestic fowl. They are of quiet as well as of retired habits, and a subdued though sharp note is the only noise that Mr. Clark ever heard them make, and that only when frightened. He has known them to be pursued, and all the barrels of a six-shooter fired one after another without alarming them; and they were forced to fly at last only by an attack of stones and clubs. He first met with them in the neighborhood of San Antonio, and found them thence sparsely distributed as an inhabitant both of prairies and mountains as far westward as Sonora. They are wilder than the Scaled Partridge, are less conspicuous and noisy, and are never seen in flocks, or, like the latter, living about old camps. Their haunts are generally far removed from the habitations of man, and the indifference they sometimes manifest to his presence seems to be due to ignorance of the danger from the power of that enemy. Though distributed over the same country as the C. squamata, they are never found in such barren regions, always seeming to prefer the districts most luxuriantly covered with vegetation.

Dr. C. B. R. Kennerly states that this bird was never seen farther south in Texas than Turkey Creek. In that vicinity it was very common, and it also occurred at various points thence to the Rio Grande. In the valley of this river it was very rarely seen, giving way apparently to the Scaly and to Gambel’s Partridge. West of the river it was very common, as far as the party travelled, wherever there was a permanent supply of fresh water. In the valley of the Santa Cruz River and among the adjacent hills it was extremely abundant. In the months of June and July it was observed there always in pairs, while in Texas, in the months of October and November, it was found in very large flocks, sometimes of various ages, from the very small and partly fledged to the full-grown bird. When hunted, they hide very closely in the grass, and Dr. Kennerly has often known the Mexican soldiers in Sonora kill them with their lances by striking them either while on the ground or just as they rise. Some of these men were very expert in the business, and obtained a good many in the course of a day’s travel.

Dr. Woodhouse met with this species a few miles above the head of the Rio San Pedro, where he secured a single specimen. He was informed by Captain S. G. French that when he first passed over exactly the same route in 1849, he met with a number of them in different localities,—at the head of San Pedro, Howard Springs, and also at Eagle Springs,—showing evidently that they have a range over the country lying between the Rio Grande and the San Pedro Rivers. He also stated that he had never met with any near the settlements, but always among the wild, rocky, and almost barren hills of that country. They are more sociable and not so shy as the other species of this family. Their food appears to be principally insects.

Mr. Dresser states that this bird is locally known as the Black Partridge. For some time he sought for it near San Antonio without success, but ultimately found it, in November, among the Bandera Hills. In its habits he states it is more like the Texan Quail than any other; but on the wing it is easily distinguished, it flies so heavily, though very swiftly. When disturbed, they squat very close, and will not move until approached very closely, when they generally rise up from under one’s feet. He did not meet with this Quail in any other part of Texas than Bandera County, but was told that it is abundant in the hilly country at the head of the Leona, and that it is also found near Laredo.

In some remarks on the birds of Western Texas, published in the Proceedings of the Philadelphia Academy in 1851, Colonel McCall gives the first information to the public touching the habits of this interesting species. We learn from his narrative that it was not met with by him before crossing the San Pedro River, but that it was soon after seen in the rocky regions into which he then entered; and thence as far as the Rio Pecos, a distance of one hundred and forty miles westwardly, it was frequently seen, though it was not anywhere very common. This entire region is a desert of great extent, north and south; the general face of the country is level, and produces nothing but a sparse growth of sand-plants. Water was found only at long intervals, and except at such points there was apparently neither food nor cover. There, among projecting rocks or the borders of dry gullies, or in loose scrub, this bird was met with by Colonel McCall.

The habits of this species appeared to him to be different from those of any other kind of Partridge he had ever met with. They were in coveys of from eight to twelve individuals, and appeared to be simple and affectionate in disposition. In feeding they separated but little, keeping up all the while a social cluck. They were so gentle as to evince little or no alarm on the approach of man, hardly moving out of the way as they passed, and only running off or flying a few yards, even when half their number had been shot. Colonel McCall was of the opinion that they might, with very little difficulty, be domesticated, though naturally inhabiting a barren waste nowhere near the habitation of man. The call-note is spoken of as very peculiar. The bird was not seen by his party after crossing the Pecos River. Mr. Gould, without any information in regard to the habits or economy of this species, in his Monograph of American Partridges, judging from the comparative shortness of the toes and the great development of the claws, ventured the opinion that the habits would be found very different from those of other members of the family, which opinion is thus confirmed. Mr. Cassin thought he could trace in the circular spots, numerous in the lower part of the body, an analogy in character to the Guinea-fowls, which is further shown by their habit of continually uttering their notes as they feed, and by other similarity in their manners.

Captain S. G. French, cited by Mr. Cassin, mentions meeting with this Partridge in the summer of 1846, when crossing the table-lands that extend westwardly from San Antonio, in Texas, to New Mexico. On the sides of a high rocky mountain near the summit, he observed several of them only a few feet in advance of him. They were running along over the fragments of rocks and through the dwarf bushes which grew wherever there was sufficient soil. He was attracted by their handsome plumage and their extreme gentleness. A few days after, when encamped on the headwaters of the river, he again met with a covey, and from that point occasionally encountered them on the route to the Pecos River, a distance of over a hundred miles. He did not meet with them again until he came to Eagle Springs, in a mountainous region about twenty-five miles from the Rio Grande. In the spring of 1851, on the same route, he saw only two of these birds, and was led to the belief that they are not at all numerous. They appeared to inhabit the rocky sides of the mountains and hills, in the desolate region of elevated plains west of the fertile portions of Texas. In no instance did he meet with any of these birds near the settlements. Wild and rocky hillsides seemed to be their favorite resort, where trees were almost unknown and all vegetation was very scant. The coveys showed but little alarm on being approached, and ran along over the rocks, occasionally attempting to secrete themselves beneath them. In this case they could be approached to within a few feet. When startled by the firing of a gun, they fly but a few yards before again alighting, and exhibit but little of that wildness peculiar to all the other species of Partridge. The contents of the crop in Captain French’s specimens consisted exclusively of fragments of insects, principally grasshoppers. No trace whatever of food of a vegetable character was found.

Don Pablo de la Llave, quoted by Mr. Cassin, furnishes the following account of the habits of this Partridge, observed by him in specimens taken near the city of Mexico.

“It is only a few days since the third species has been brought to me. It is rather smaller than the former (C. squamata), and its deportment is entirely different. It carries its head habitually resting on its shoulders, the neck being excessively small and deflexed, and in everything it shows an amiability, and, so to speak, kindness of character (una bondad de caracter), which is not found in any other species of this genus, and it is naturally so tame and domestic as to permit itself to be caught with the hand. These birds are always united, forming a covey, and whenever one is separated the others follow it. They do not, like others, wish to sleep on elevated places, but sit on the ground, drawing very near together. Their notes, which are not varied, are very low and soft, and I have never heard loud cries from the male. When they are frightened they show much activity and swiftness; at other times their gait and movement are habitually slow and deliberate, carrying the crest puffed up (espayada).”

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