286 BULLETIN 16 2, UNITED STATES NATIONAL MUSEUM 



flocks were seen from time to time during the previous day. After we reached 

 the Koskokwim River the birds became scarcer, and we did not see it at all 

 along the Yukon River. The center of abundance of this grand grouse appears 

 to be in the vicinity of Lake Minchumina, with its sheltered, scenic, birch-clad 

 hills, that transcends in exquisite beauty any region I saw in glorious Alaska. 



Nesting. — The nesting habits of this grouse are apparently similar 

 to those of its more southern relatives. The only published account 

 of it I can find is by Baird, Brewer, and Ridgway (1905), as follows : 



Mr. Kennicott found the nest of this bird at Fort Yukon, at the foot of a 

 clump of dwarf willows. It was in dry ground, and in a region in which 

 these willows abounded and were quite thickly interspersed with other trees, 

 especially small spruces, but no large growth. The nest is said to have been 

 similar to' that of Cupidonia cupido. Mr. Lockhart also found it breeding in 

 the same region. The nests seen by him were likewise built on a rising ground 

 under a few small willows. 



Eggs. — Major Bendire (1892) describes the eggs very well, as 

 follows : 



The number of eggs to a set varies from seven to fourteen and their ground 

 color from a fawn color with a vinaceous rufous bloom to chocolate, tawny, and 

 olive brown in different specimens. The majority of the eggs are finely marked 

 with small, well-defined spots of reddish brown and lavender, resembling the 

 markings found on the eggs of Tympanuchus americanus, only they are much 

 more distinct. Compared with the eggs of the two southern subspecies, 

 P. phasianellus columbianus and P. phasianellus campestris, they usually are 

 very much darker colored, even the palest specimens being darker than the 

 heaviest marked eggs of either of the two subspecies. These markings are 

 entirely superficial, and when removed leave the shell a creamy white in some 

 cases and a very pale green in others. In shape they are usually ovate. 



The measurements of 27 eggs average 43.1 by 32.3 millimeters; 

 the eggs showing the four extremes measure 48 by 33, 44.5 by 33.5, 

 40.5 by 32, and 42 by 30 millimeters. 



Food. — Swainson and Richardson (1831) say: "They feed on the 

 buds and sprouts of Betula glandidosai, of various willows, and of 

 the aspen and larch, and in autumn on berries." Macoun (1909) 

 says : " These birds keep in pairs or small flocks and frequent the 

 juniper plains all the year. The buds of these shrubs are their 

 principal food in winter, as their berries are in summer." 



DISTRIBUTION 



Range. — Alaska, western Canada, and the Western United States. 



The full range of the sharp-tailed grouse extends north to Alaska 

 (Allakakat and Fort Yukon) ; Yukon (Ramparts) ; Mackenzie (Fort 

 Good Hope, Fort Norman, Grandin River, Fort Rae, Fort Resolu- 

 tion, and Fort Smith) ; northeastern Alberta (Fort Chipewyan) ; 

 east-central Saskatchewan (Cumberland House) ; Manitoba (Grand 

 Rapids, Norway House, Oxford House, and York Factory) ; north- 



