Page:The American Cyclopædia (1879) Volume VIII.djvu/285

 I GKOUSE 271 brown; tail of 16 feathers, dark brown, tipped with a band of orange chestnut half an inch wide ; chin, throat, and bill black ; under tail coverts black, barred and tipped with white. The female is smaller, but similar, with broad- er black bars above, and below barred with orange and white; the continuous black on the head and breast is wanting. They are found in the spruce forests and cedar swamps of the northern states to the arctic seas, and westward nearly to the Kocky mountains; their flesh, like that of the other grouse, is ex- cellent, but in the winter it has the bitter fla- vor of the spruce on which they feed at that season. They are not very shy ; when alarmed they resort to trees; the nest is made upon the ground, and the eggs, comparatively few, are varied with white, yellow, and black. The pheasant- tailed grouse, sage cock, or cock of the plains (centrocercus urophasianus, Swains.), is by far the largest of the American grouse, measuring about 30 in., with an extent of wings of about 40 ; the tail is very long, wedge- shaped, the feathers all lanceolate, and longer than the wings; the feathers of the lower throat and sides are stiif and spiny. Above, the plumage is varied with black, brown, and brownish yellow, the coverts streaked with the latter ; black below, the breast and tips of tail coverts white, the lower part of the former with black streaks ; the tail has 20 feathers. It is found in the desert plains of the far west, especially about the branches of the Columbia river ; it feeds on the various species of worm- wood, which impart a bitter flavor to its flesh ; it is not shy, and is a poor flier ; the eggs are nu- merous, 13 to 17, of a wood-brown color, with Cock of the Plains (Centrocercus urophasianus), Female (upper figure) and Male. irregular chocolate blotches on the larger end, and about the size of those of a common fowl. The sharp-tailed grouse (T. phasianellus, Linn. ; genus pedioecetes, Baird) has a short, gradua- ted tail of 18 feathers, the central pair elonga- ted about an inch beyond the rest ; the length 378 VOL. viii. 18 is 18 in. and the extent of wings 26. Above, the color is light brownish yellow, varied with black, and with rounded white spots on the wings ; below pure white, with dark V-shaped marks on the breast and sides ; there are no elongated feathers on the neck, as in the next Pinnated Grouse (Tetrao cupido), Female (upper figure) and Male. species, the bill is stouter, and the tarsi are more densely feathered. It inhabits the north- ern prairies and plains from Illinois to Oregon. Its food consists of the buds and sprouts of the beech, willow, aspen, larch, and similar trees, and of berries ; the eggs, about 13, are white, with colored spots. The pinnated grouse, prai- rie hen or chicken (T. cupido, Linn. ; genus cupidonia, Reich.), has a tail of 18 feathers, short, truncate, and much graduated, and a tuft of long, lanceolate feathers on each side of the neck, covering a bare space capable of considerable inflation. The plumage is covered with transverse bands of white on a brown ground, the latter nearly black, and the former with a rufous tinge, above ; long feathers of the throat black ; different specimens vary much in color. The length is about 17 in., with an extent of wings of 28, and a weight of 3 Ibs. This species, once common in the At- lantic states, is now mostly confined to the western plains ; the old name in New York was heath hen. The food is acorns, buds, leaves, berries, and grains. They remain all the year in their favorite and barren grounds ; in spring the males meet at break of day in what are called " scratching places," where they swell and strut with great pomp, and en- gage in fierce contests, uttering a peculiar sound rendered more intense by the large inflated sacs on the sides of the neck. Their flesh, as Avell as that of the preceding species, is excel- lent. The ruffed grouse, erroneously called partridge in New England and pheasant in the middle states (bonasa umbellus, Steph.), is fa- miliarly known by its ruff of velvety black feathers on the sides of the neck, its broad fan- like tail of 18 feathers, partially crested head,