_Tetrao umbelloides_, DOUGL. Linn. Trans. XVI, 1829, 148. _Bonasa
umbellus_, var. _umbelloides_, BAIRD, Birds N. Am. 1858, 925
(appendix). _Bonasa umbelloides_, ELLIOT, P. A. N. S. 1864. _Bonasa
umbellus_, AUD.—DALL & BANNISTER, Tr. Chicago, Ac. I, 1869, 287
(Alaska, interior).
SP. CHAR. In pattern of coloration exactly similar to _umbellus_,
but colors different. Rufous tints almost wholly replaced by gray,
the ground-color of the tail always fine light ash. Neck-tufts deep
glossy-black.
HAB. Rocky Mountains of the United States, and interior of British
America, from Alaska (on the Yukon) to Canada, where grading into var.
_umbellus_.
HABITS. In regard to the habits of this variety we have no information.
It was found by Mr. Drummond among the Rocky Mountains, near the sources
of the tributaries of the Saskatchewan. He states that those he met with
were at least one third smaller than the _umbellus_, had a much grayer
plumage and a shorter ruffle. He regarded it as a distinct species from
the common Partridge, which he also encountered in the same locality.
Mr. Ridgway met with this variety on the Wahsatch Mountains in October
and during the summer. It was known in that locality as the Pine Hen,
in distinction from the _T. obscurus_, which was known as the Mountain
Grouse.
The eggs of this variety measure 1.62 inches in length by 1.20 in
breadth. Their ground-color is a deep uniform cream, darker than in the
_umbellus_. They are occasionally marked with dark tints of the same.
Bonasa umbellus, var. sabini, DOUGLAS.