295. 1. Tetrao Umbellus, Linn. Ruffed Grouse.--Partridge Pheasant.
Male with the feathers of the head narrow and elongated into a decurved tuft; an erectile ruff of broad, abrupt, glossy feathers, in two tufts; tail of eighteen feathers, rounded. Upper part of head and hind part of neck bright yellowish-red, variegated with dusky; back chestnut, marked with oblong white spots, margined with black; quills brown, their outer webs pale yellowish-red, spotted with dusky; upper tail-coverts banded or spotted with black; tail reddish-yellow, narrowly barred and minutely mottled with black, and terminated by a broad band of the latter, between two narrow bands of greyish-white; a yellowish-white band from the bill to the eye, beyond which it is prolonged; throat and fore neck light brownish-yellow; lower ruff-feathers of the same colour, barred with reddish-brown, upper black, glossed with blue; lower parts yellowish-white, with broad transverse spots of dusky or brown. Female with the crest and ruff less developed, the latter of a duller black; the tints of the plumage duller than in the male. In the northern parts the plumage is generally less red, but otherwise similar.
Common from Maryland to Labrador, and in the interior, from the mountainous districts to Canada and the Saskatchewan. Columbia River. Resident.
Ruffed Grouse, Tetrao umbellus, Wils. Amer. Orn. v. vi. p. 46.
Tetrao umbellus, Ruffed Grouse, Swains. & Rich. F. Bor. Amer. v. ii. p. 342.
Ruffed Grouse, Tetrao Umbellus, Aud. Orn. Biog. v. i. p. 211; v. v. p. 560.
** Tarsus feathered to the toes. Tail rather long, broad, rounded.
296. 2. Tetrao Canadensis, Linn. Canada Grouse.--Spotted Grouse.
Tail of sixteen feathers, rounded. Male with the upper parts transversely banded with brownish-black and light grey; wings variegated with dusky and greyish-yellow; quills brown, the outer webs of the primaries mottled with yellowish; tail blackish-brown, tipped with a band of reddish-yellow; lower parts black; the feathers on the throat with a white spot near the end; a band of white spots behind the eye; on the breast, the feathers with a broad subterminal spot; and the lower tail-coverts largely tipped with white. Female with the upper parts as in the male, but more broadly barred; head, sides of neck, fore neck, and anterior part of breast, yellowish-red, barred with brownish-black; lower parts greyish-black, barred with reddish-white; tail minutely mottled, and tipped with reddish-brown.