Gen. Char. Tail short, graduated; exclusive of the much lengthened middle part, where are two feathers (perhaps tail-coverts) with parallel edges and truncated ends half the full rounded wing. Tarsi densely feathered to the toes and between their bases. Neck without peculiar feathers. Culmen between the nasal fossæ not half the total length.
Species and Varieties.
P. phasianellus. Above variegated with transverse spots of yellowish-brown and black; wing-coverts with large, roundish white spots; outer webs of primaries with quadrate white spots. Beneath white anteriorly and along the sides, with V-shaped marks of brown or dusky. Sexes alike in color and size.
Above blackish-dusky, variegated transversely with yellowish-brown; scapulars with broad white medial longitudinal streaks of white. Markings below clear, uniform blackish-dusky. Toes entirely hidden by the long hair-like feathers of the tarsus. Head and neck with the ground-color white, the throat heavily spotted with dusky. Hab. British America to Arctic regions … var. phasianellus.
Above yellowish-brown, mixed with reddish, and variegated transversely with black; scapulars without white longitudinal spots. Markings beneath clear pale brown, with dusky borders. Toes entirely bare. Head and neck deep buff, the throat not spotted. Hab. Prairies and plains of northern U. S., from Wisconsin and Illinois to Oregon … var. columbianus.
PLATE LX.
- 1. Pediœcetes columbianus. Missouri Plains, 4543.
- 2. Centrocercus urophasianus. ♂ Nebraska, 12561.
- 3. Pediœcetes phasianellus. Hudson’s Bay, 32319.
- 4. Centrocercus urophasianus. ♀ Nebraska, 11349.