504 C O C K O F T H E PLAINS.
sametfime a rather loud tat very short alarmed guttural cackle The
notesof thefemale indeed at suohiimes almostxesembfe thoseiof acomnion
T1'U 01,1 malcwlioh kifloH by l»r T „wXSpSut , , r „ ed out so different
from the imperfect and nnadult specimens figured, that we could
scarcely recognise i t for the sa»e species Its size seemed to promise
a fine meal, but appearances are often dceeitfinl, and after being nicely
broiled, it truly deserved to be :freate,d lite t£e ^ p r e p a r e d plate
of oncunabers, proving, so yeT? „bitter, though delicately .white, that
our hungry hunters could scarcely swallow more, than a morsel in
short, it feeds by choice on the bitterest'shrubs-of these .sterile plainsand
undei*-wood -^several species of 4»*««. ) . is literally its favourite
food. Of, its, nest and breeding habits-we ascertained -nothing
but cannot for a moment hesitate to say that some mistake must exist
in either asserting or supposing ;fchat a bird-sp constantly confined to
the open desert p W , could 1 S t o t o the shady forests ¿ . d a r t alluvial
thickets of the Columbia to r e » its. young apart from their-usual
food and hahntsi We met with ttap, veryAje, Grous n e « ^ the plains
around Wallai Wallah, Vn the ¡buttsifehof the/dolumbia, but^ver
saw it. citheriinVthi! forests of the Columbia«*,,the, H H f | M ',
so far as we taow,, ha^eyer . been f o u n d s the aoast of California, or
, linjfhv interior p Mesleo.; T . KBITALO'T)'/"
Mr DOUBLAS ' S J statement is as fellows^« The flight of these birds
unsteady, and affords but little amusement to ¿„sportsman.-
From the disproportionately small, convex, thin-quilled w i n g , - so thin
that a vacant space half as broad as a quill appears between each -
the flight may be said to fee :a 'sort of fettering, inore than anything
6 l S e : giving-two .or three claps of the wings,in^uick succes- •
mm, at the same time h « r i e% rising; then shooting or floating, swing,
mg from side to side,, gradually faffing, and thus producing a dapping
whirring,sound. When started, the voice is cuck,^ like the
. Common Pheasant. They pair in March and April Small eminences
on the banks of streams axe the places usuaUy Selected for celebrating
the weddings, the tnne generally about,sunrise The wings .of the
male are lowered, buzzing on the ground; the tail,, spread like a fan,
somewhat erect ';, the bare yellow oesophagus Mated to a prodigious
size,—fully half as large as Ms body, and, from fe soft, membranous
substance, being well contrasted with, the scale-like .feathers,below it
on the breast, and thelle.xilo. silky feather«», the nock, which on the*.,
C O C K O F T H E PLAINS. 505
occasions stand erect. In this grotesque form he displays, in the pre-
„•Knee cilfliis intended mate, a variety of- attitudes. His love-song is a
confused, grating, but j;ot offensively disagreeable tone,—something
that we can imitate, but have a difficulty in expressing—Bwrr-hwrr,
hurr-r r-r-ftoo, ending in a deep, -hollow tunc, not unlike the sound
produced by Mowing into a large rood. Nest oil the ground, under
the shade of I'urxkia and Artemisia,, or near streams, among I'halurin
urumlinacca, carefully constructed of dry , grass and slender twigs.
Eggs, from- thirteen to seventeen, about the size of those of a common
fowl, of a wood-brown '(«¡lour, with irregular chocolate blotches
on the thick end. . Period of immbatioirtH-onty-ono to twenty- two days.
The. young leave the rtcst-'a few hours after they are hatched. In
the summer.:and autumn months these bird'; arc seen in small troops,,
and sin winter' and spring in Hocks of several hundreds. Plentiful
throughout the barren, arid plains of the river Columbia; also in the
interior of Not-Ill California. They do not exist on the banks of the
giver Missouri; nor have they 'been seen in any place east of the
Rocky Mountains.''
TKTMAO i'TTCU-HAHIASCS, 0>. lioivtp. Amur. Orr.mi. vol. iii. pi. 21, fig. 1. Female.
TETRAO {("KNTROCKACIRA) L.'B<N'HASI.\N rsv Hkkards. and Swims. Fauna Jior. Air.eritiiuia,
vul. ii. p. iiiili.
' 1 'GOCK -oftlie PT.AINS, j.VlrfiaiVMimua.l, P-
...Adult Male. PiaUi CCCI.XXl. Fig, 1.
Hill shortish, strong, somewhat compressed ; upper mandible with
the. dorsal line arciiato-deoliiiiti-, the ridge flattened at the base and
narrowed on account of the great extent of the nasal sinus, which is
feathered, the sides convex toward the end, the edges inflected.,, the tip
narrow and rounilt.d ¿lower mandible with the: angle of moderate length
and width, the- dorsal, line ascending and convex, the edges sharp and
inflected', the, tip- obtuse, but lite the upper thin-edged. Head rather
small, oblong ; neck of moderate length; body full. Feet rather short,
stout; tarsus roundish, feathered, bare and reticulated behind. Toes
oi' moderate size, covered above with numerous scutclla, laterally pectinated
with slender projecting flattened scales ; first toe small, second
a little shorter than fourth, third much longer. Claws stout, slightly
arched, moderately compressed, obtuse.