Page:Ornithological biography, or an account of the habits of the birds of the United States of America, vol 2.djvu/477

Rh the State of Maine. My friend Edward Harris of New York, Thomas Lincoln, and others, killed a great number ; and the last mentioned gentle- man procured a pair alive, which were fed on oats and did well. The flesh of this Grous is dark, and fit for being eaten only when it has fed on berries. In winter, when it feeds on the leaves of trees and other plants, the flesh is quite bitter and disagreeable.

Tetrao canadensis, Linn. Syst. Nat. vol. i. p. 274 — Lath. Ind. Omith. vol. ii. p. 637 — Ch. Bonaparte, Synops. of Birds of the United States, p. 1 27.

Spotted Gaous, Tetrao canadensis, Ch. Bonaparte, Amer. Ornith. vol. iii. pi. 20. Male ; pi. 21. fig. 2. Female Nuttall, Manual, vol. i. p. 667 Swains, and Ri- chards. Fauna Boreal. Amer. vol. ii. p. 246.

Adult Male. Plate CLXXVI. Fig. 1, 1.

Bill short, robust, slightly arched, rather obtuse, the base covered by feathers ; upper mandible with the dorsal outline convex towards the end, the edges sharp and overlapping, the tip declinate ; lower mandible slight- ly convex, in its dorsal outline, the back broad and rounded, the sides sloping outwards, the tip rather rounded. Nostrils basal, lateral, con- cealed by the short feathers. Head small, neck of ordinary length, body full. Feet short, rather small ; tarsus short, roundish, feathered ; toes scutellate above, broadly margined and pectinate, the anterior ones con- nected by a web at the base, the hind toe very small, the two lateral about equal, the middle one much longer; claws short, arched, compressed, ra- ther obtuse.

Plumage compact, slightly glossed. Feathers of the head very short. Wings, short, broad, much rounded and curved, the third quill longest, the fourth next, the second and fifth nearly equal, the first very short. Tail ample, of ordinary length, rounded, of sixteen broad rotundato-trun- cate feathers having a minute mucro.

Bill and claws brownish-black. Iris hazel. Fringed membrane over the eyes vermilion. Toes purplish-grey. Upper plumage and flanks brownish-black, transversely barred with brownish-grey, the tip of each feather with two bars being of the latter colour; on the hind parts the bars are larger, and the pale ones more tinged with brown. Quills and larger coverts blackish-brown, the outer edges of the primaries pale brownish-grey, and those of the secondaries minutely mottled with the same. Tail-coverts brownish-black, minutely mottled and tipped with greyish-white; tail-feathers darker and tipped with dull brownish-red.