WHERE SPRING COMES LATE 15 



when khaki-colored gun men flushed them from 

 thickets — then as a rule very much more remote 

 from town. With the first big spring thaw they 

 will become mad wild again and be pensioners no 

 longer. 



A quarter of a mile out from town, are found 

 the sharp-tail dormitories, located in a hollow in 

 the scrubby sand-hills. Like the other grouse, 

 these birds work themselves down into the soft, 

 dry snow and keep hidden below the surface. 

 Judging by the tracks, they use both wings and 

 feet in the burrowing operations. They always 

 hide thus for the night, if the snow is dry and 

 light, and usually also during the early after- 

 noon. Probably the sharp-tail thus bedded 

 sleeps much warmer on a cold night than when 

 roosting on the surface during a warmer spell. 

 For very obvious reasons they never burrow into 

 the soggy snow during mild spells. A whole 

 flock will burrow in the same little hollow, but 

 unlike their quail cousins, no two of them will 

 sit together. 



The prudent sharp-tail never comes out where 

 he enters — always gets in at one side of the bed 

 and out at the other. When going to bed, he 

 gets himself covered and then tunnels ahead 



