Color Key to North American Birds Part 33

(Ridgw.)

Range.--Atka, Aleutian Islands.

=302d. Townsend Ptarmigan= (_L. r. townsendi_). _Ad._ [Male], _Summer._ Above, breast and flanks raw umber finely vermiculated with black on back; with black blotches on head, neck and upperpart of back and wings. _Ad._ [Female], _Summer._ Above ochraceous, blotched and barred with black; lighter below. (Elliot.)

Range.--Kyska and Adak, Aleutian Islands.

[Ill.u.s.tration: 302.1]

=302.1. Evermann Ptarmigan= (_Lagopus evermanni_). L. 13.9. _Ad._ [Male], _Summer._ Above and breast black slightly marked with rusty.

_Ad._ [Female], _Summer._ Entire body plumage, ochraceous, blotched and barred with black and above tipped with white or ochraceous: below black bars wider and no white tips. (Elliot.)

Range.--Attu, Aleutian Islands.

=303. Welch Ptarmigan= (_Lagopus welchi_). L. about 14. Bill and tail as in No. 302; plumage grayer than in No. 302. _Ad._ [Male], _Summer._ Above black _finely_ and irregularly marked with wavy lines of buff and white. _Ad._ [Female], _Summer._ Above black _finely_ and irregularly barred with buffy, grayish and white.

Range.--Newfoundland.

[Ill.u.s.tration: 304.]

=304.? White-tailed Ptarmigan= (_Lagopus leucurus_). L. 13. Tail _white_. _Ad._ [Male], _Summer._ Breast barred, black and white. _Ad._ [Female], _Summer._ Above black barred with rich buff; below rich buff barred with black. _Ads., Fall._ Above and breast rich buff finely vermiculated with black. _Ads., Winter._ Entirely white. _Notes._ When about to fly and at the beginning of flight a sharp cackle like that of a frightened hen. (Grinnell.)

Range.--"Alpine summits of Rocky Mountains; south to New Mexico; north into British America (as far as Fort Halkett, Liard River); west to higher ranges of Oregon, Was.h.i.+ngton, and British Columbia." (Bendire.)

=304a.? Kenai White-tailed Ptarmigan= (_L. l. peninsularis_). Similar to No. 304, but in summer buff markings much paler; in fall, colors much grayer.

Range.--Kenai Peninsula, Alaska.

Prairie Hens and Grouse

[Ill.u.s.tration: 305.]

=305. Prairie Hen= (_Tympanuchus america.n.u.s_). L. 18. Underparts with distinct brown and white bars of about equal width. _Ad._ [Male]. A neck-tuft of ten or more _rounded_ feathers. _Ad._ [Female].

Neck-tufts much smaller; whole tail barred. _Notes._ Song, a loud "booming."

Range.--"Prairies of Mississippi Valley; south to Louisiana and Texas; east to Kentucky, Indiana, Ohio, Michigan and Ontario; west through eastern portions of North Dakota, South Dakota, Nebraska, Kansas and Indian Territory; north to Manitoba; general tendency to extension of range westward and contraction eastward; migration north and south in Minnesota, Iowa and Missouri." (A.O.U.)

[Ill.u.s.tration: 305a.]

=305a. Att.w.a.ter Prairie Hen= (_T. a. att.w.a.teri_). Similar to No. 305, but smaller and darker; neck-tufts proportionately wide; tarsus not fully feathered.

Range.--Southwestern Louisiana and eastern Texas.

=306. Heath Hen= (_Tympanuchus cupido_). Similar to No. 305, but smaller; scapulars more broadly tipped with buff; neck-tuft of _less_ than ten feathers; obtusely _pointed_; axillars _barred_ with dusky.

Range.--Martha's Vineyard, Ma.s.sachusetts.

=307. Lesser Prairie Hen= (_Tympanuchus pallidicinctus_). Similar to No. 305, but smaller, more buffy above; brown bars below narrower than whitish s.p.a.ces between them. _Notes._ Doubtless the same as those of No. 305.

Range.--Southwestern parts of Kansas and western Indian Territory, western (and southern?) Texas. (Bendire.)

=308. Sharp-tailed Grouse= (_Pedi?cetes phasianellus_). L. 17. Breast feathers with internal =V= shaped _loops_; no neck-tufts. _Ads._ Prevailing color above _black_; narrowly barred with rusty and margined with paler.

Range--Interior of British America, east to Rocky Mountains, about James Bay (Moose Factory) and the west sh.o.r.e of Hudson Bay, northern Manitoba, north at least to Fort Simpson, Mackenzie River, northwest territory. (Bendire.)

=308a. Columbian Sharp-tailed Grouse= (_P. p. columbia.n.u.s_). Similar to No. 308, but prevailing color above buffy.

Range.--"Northwest United States; south to northeastern California, northern Nevada and Utah; east to Montana and Wyoming, west to Oregon and Was.h.i.+ngton; north, chiefly west of Rocky Mountains, through British Columbia to central Alaska (Fort Yukon)" (Bendire.)

[Ill.u.s.tration: 308b.]

=308b. Prairie Sharp-tailed Grouse= (_P. p. campestris_). Similar to No. 308a, but more rusty. _Notes._ Song, a bubbling crow, a rattling of tail-feathers, and stamping of feet. Calls, when disturbed, _cack_, _cack_, _cack_; a soft clear whistle and a grunt of alarm. (Seton.) Call of mother to young and of young in reply a guttural, raucous croak. (Grinnell.)

Range--"Plains and prairies of United States, north to Manitoba; east to Wisconsin and northern Illinois; west to eastern Colorado; south to eastern New Mexico." (Bendire.)

Grouse, Turkeys and Chachalaca

[Ill.u.s.tration: 309.]

=309. Sage Grouse= (_Centrocercus urophasia.n.u.s_). _Ad._ [Male], L. 29; _Ad._ [Female], L. 22. Similar to [Male], but smaller, throat whiter; breast barred black and whitish. _Notes._ When courting, low, grunting, guttural sounds; when alarmed, a sort of cackle, _kak_, _kak_. (Bendire.)

Range.--"Sage regions of the Rocky Mountain Plateau, and west chiefly within the United States, but north to a.s.siniboia and the dry interior of British Columbia; east to North Dakota, South Dakota, Nebraska and Colorado; south to northern New Mexico, Utah and Nevada; west in California, Oregon and Was.h.i.+ngton, to the Sierra Nevada and Cascade Range." (A.O.U.)

[Ill.u.s.tration: 1/10 Nat. Size.]

=Pheasant= (_Phasia.n.u.s torquatus ? P. colchicus_). An introduced species, see remarks on page 114.

[Ill.u.s.tration: 310. 1/16 Nat. Size.]

=310. Wild Turkey= (_Meleagris gallopavo silvestris_). [Male] _Ad._ L. about 48; upper tail-coverts and tail tipped with rusty chestnut: white bars in primaries entire, crossing the webs of the feathers.

_Notes._ Similar to those of the domesticated Turkey.

Range.--Eastern United States from Pennsylvania south to central Florida; west to Nebraska and northeastern Texas.

=310a. Merriam Turkey= (_M. g. merriami_). Similar to No. 310, but tail and upper tail-coverts tipped with whitish.

Range.--"Mountains of southern Colorado, New Mexico, Arizona and western Texas; and northern Chihuahua and Sonora, Mexico." (Bailey.)

=310b. Florida Wild Turkey= (_M. g. osceola_). Similar to No. 310, but smaller; primaries with narrow _broken_ bars _not_ reaching across feather.