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Genus PEDIŒCETES, Baird

Pediœcetes, Baird, Birds N. Am. 1858, 625. (Type, Tetrao phasianellus, Linn.)

4543 ♂ ⅓ ⅓

Pediœcetes phasianellus.

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 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.

Pediœcetes phasianellus.

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 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.

17044 ♂ ⅓ ⅓

Cupidonia cupido.

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.

Cupidonia cupido.

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.