40 GROUSE FAMILY. 



but if disturbed, take to trees. When hard pressed by the 

 hunter, they sometimes seek safety by plunging into the snow, 

 and quickly burrowing beneath it, come out at a distance, and 

 often from a situation the least expected, so that they fre- 

 quently make good their retreat from .their enemies. 



The Sharp-tailed Grouse makes its nest on the ground, near 

 some bush, with loose grass and a few feathers ; the eggs are 

 from 9 to 13, white, with dusky spots. The young are hatched 

 about the middle of June, and utter a puling note something 

 like chickens. Unsuccessful attempts have been made to 

 domesticate them. The male has a shrill, rather feeble, crow- 

 ing note ; and both sexes, when disturbed, and on taking wing, 

 repeat a reiterated cry of hik, kuk, kuk, accompanied by a 

 smart flirting of the tail-feathers, nearly similar to the opening 

 and closing of a fan. In the breeding-season the male struts 

 about proudly, in the usual manner of the genus and order 

 to which he belongs. The weight of this bird is about two 

 pounds, and the flesh is light brown when cooked, and is much 

 esteemed. 



The northern limit of the range of this species, according to 

 Richardson, is Great Slave Lake, in 6 1 degrees ; and its most 

 southern recorded station is in 41 degrees, on the Missouri. 

 It abounds on the outskirts of the Saskatchewan plains, and is 

 found throughout the woody districts of the fur countries, in 

 open glades and thickets on the borders of lakes, particularly 

 in the partially cleared tracts contiguous to the trading posts. 

 In winter, like the Pinnated Grouse, it perches generally on 

 trees, but in summer it is much on the ground, and is at all 

 times associated in coveys of ten to sixteen individuals. Early 

 in spring a family of these birds selects a level spot, whereon 

 they meet every morning, and run round in a circle of fifteen 

 or twenty feet diameter, on which the grass becomes worn 

 quite bare. On approaching this ring, the birds squat close to 

 the ground, but in a short time stretch out their necks to 

 survey the intruder, and if not scared by any nearer advance, 

 they soon resume their circular course, some running to the 

 right, and others to the left, thus meeting and crossing each 



