412 PEDKECETES PIIASIANELLUS VAR. COLUMBIANUS. 



During incubation tliey usually acquire a variety of scratches or other 

 abrasions, in -which the i)ale underlying color appears. The eggs are 

 shaped like those of the connnon hen (though more pointed, and nearer 

 a perfect oval), and vary as much, in size and shape, as those of the 

 same breed of domestic fowl commonly do. They are always quite dif- 

 ferent from those of the Pinnated Grouse. They measure from l.GO to 

 1.80 inches in length by 1.20 to 1.30 in breadth, averaging about 1.75 

 by 1.25. (Thirty specimens measured.) The clutch varies greatly, as 

 usual in the cases of those birds which lay nuiny eggs. The largest 

 number I ever found in a nest was thirteen, but I suppose a few more 

 may sometimes be laid. The fewest I have noticed, after incubation 

 had commenced, showing that no more would have been laid, was five. 

 In the latitude of Pembina they are laid late in May and through part 

 of June* — probably a little earlier farther south. 



But we have come to speak of the eggs without reference as yet to 

 the i)relin:iinaries needful for their production. The Grouse revive from 

 the stolid and apathetic mood in which they pass the winter early in 

 the spring — often previous to the severe snow-storms and cold that may 

 prevail in April in part of the regions they inhabit, and the earliest 

 indication of their renewed activity is their sexual excitement. I shall 

 never forget the first tiuie their strange booming fell upon mj^ ear — a 

 new experience to me, though I had for months been familiar with the 

 birds under the influence of their winter regime. It was on the 1st of 

 April, and I think that had the birds awakened sooner, the fact would 

 not have escaped me. It was in the vicinity of Fort Kaiulall. I was 

 miles away from the fort or any other human habitation, whither I had 

 gone into lonely bivouac the night before to make sure of securing some 

 wild fowl at the break of day. Awakened before it was light by the 

 sonorous cries of the wild fowl making for the reedy lake w'here I had 

 encamped, 1 arose — there was no need to dress — pushed oft' into the 

 expanse of reeds in a light canoe I had brought with me, and with my 

 gun across my knees, sat quietly waiting for light to come. The sense 

 of loneliness was oppressive in the stillness that preceded morning, 

 broken only by the quack or plash of the Wild Duck, and the distant 

 honking of a train of Wild Geese winnowing their sinuous way afar. I 

 felt desolate — almost lost — and thought how utterly insignificant man 

 is in comparison with his self-assertion. The grand bluffs of the Mis- 

 souri, rising past each other interminably, were before me in shadowy 

 outline, that seemed to change and threaten to roll upon me; all around 

 stretched the waste of reeds, secret, treacherous, limitless — unmoved, 

 yet whispering to the water about their roots with a strange trickling. 

 But the light came on; the distant hills took shape and settled in firm 

 gray outline against the sky, and a breatli of fresher, purer air, mes- 

 senger of morning, passed over the lake, dispelling the vapors that 

 hung reluctant, and causing the reeds to sway in graceful salute to the 

 coming sun. A Sjjarrow chirped irom her perch with joy ; a Field Lark 

 rose from her bed in the grass, tuning her limpid pipe to a song of 

 gladness; and the wild fowl plashed about right heartily, when the 

 highest hilltop was touched with gold, and another and another, till 

 the scene was illumined to the very bosom of the lake. The feathered 

 orchestra sounds never so impressive as when it ushers in the day; 



* Says Dr. Sucklcy : "At Fort Dalk-s, on tbolst of April, 1855, a young bird, scarcely 

 two days old, was brouffht to me. This early incubation would lead us to suspect that 

 the species, in favorable situations, has two or more broods during the season." But 

 this is certainly not the case in any localitj* I have observed the birds — they have all 

 they can do to get one brood off their hands by the end of the summer. 



