49. Bonasa umbella sabinii (Dougl.) Coues. Oregon Ruffed Grouse.—The series of Ruffed Grouse embraces twelve specimens, all from the immediate vicinity of Fort Walla Walla. These birds apparently represent a dark, or more properly speaking, non-rufescent phase of sabinii, corresponding to the gray phase of umbella, and bearing the same relation to typical sabinii that the Walla Walla Scops does to what has been considered typical S. kennicotti. This peculiar plumage may be characterized as follows:
Gray phase; adult ♂. Above with the ground-color clear, dark ash, nearly uniform and unmixed with reddish even on the wings and tail; throat and breast tinged with reddish-yellow; remainder of under parts white, occasionally with a trace of ochraceous; markings as in typical sabinii.
The above description is taken from a bird which probably represents the extreme gray condition, all the others having more or less reddish-brown on the upper parts, especially on the back and wings, although the tail is usually clear ashy. Two specimens, however, show a decided approach to what may now be called the red phase of sabinii, in having the breast, with the entire dorsal surface, including that of the tail, strongly tinged with orange-chestnut which is scarcely duller than in examples from the coast region. Some of the grayer birds present a general resemblance to umbelloides, but the ground tint of their plumage is always deeper, the dorsal markings richer and blacker, and the under parts very much more thickly barred. It is probable that this style of coloration will prove to be more or less characteristic of all the Ruffed Grouse inhabiting the region between the Coast Range and the Rocky Mountains.
50. Pediœcetes phasianellus columbianus (Ord) Coues. Common Sharp-tailed Grouse.—Three specimens, taken at Fort Walla Walla, differ considerably from eastern birds. The entire upper parts are darker and duller, the usual rusty-ochraceous ground-color being replaced by plain wood brown; the dorsal markings, also, are finer, while those of the under parts are blacker and more generally distributed, the only immaculate area being the centre of the abdomen. These differences do not seem to indicate any approach to true P. phasianellus, which is an altogether differently colored bird. They probably have only a local significance, but the region in question is so poorly represented by the material to which I have had access, that I have not been able to form a definite opinion on this point.
LIST OF BIRDS ASCERTAINED TO OCCUR WITHIN TEN MILES FROM POINT DE MONTS, PROVINCE OF QUEBEC, CANADA; BASED CHIEFLY UPON THE NOTES OF NAPOLEON A. COMEAU.
BY C. HART MERRIAM, M. D.
Point de Monts is the southward termination of a high rocky promontory that separates the river from the Gulf of St. Lawrence, on the north shore. It is in latitude 49° 19′ north. The country is well wooded, the forests consisting chiefly of spruce (both white and black) and balsam. Scattered about are a few birches, poplars, cedars, and tamaracks; and on a sandy terrace near the Godbout River is a quantity of the northern scrub pine (Pinus banksiana) that here attains a height of thirty and sometimes forty feet. The region is so far north that not only are the oaks and hickories absent, but even the hardy beech and maple do not grow here.
I visited this section of the coast in July, 1881, and again in July, 1882; and with the observations made at these times I have incorporated the notes kindly placed at my disposal by Mr. Napoleon A. Comeau, guardian of Godbout.
The nomenclature followed is that of the second edition of Dr. Coues’s Check List of North American Birds.
1. Turdus migratorius. Robin.—A common summer resident. Arrives about the first of May, and remains till late in November. Seen Dec. 22, 1879.