294 BULLETIN 16 2, UNITED STATES NATIONAL MUSEUM 



It was lined chiefly with grass, much of which was the bent-over tips of the 

 grass growing about the nest. The nest and eggs were partially concealed by 

 the overhanging grasses. 



Nest lined with oak leaves, dry ferns, grass, and a few feathers of the nesting 

 bird. About three-fourths of the lining consisted of oak leaves, which had 

 fallen from a scrub oak near by. About the nest was a thick growth of moss 

 and checkerberry (Gaultheria). Very near to the nest was a thicket of pin 

 cherries, poplars, and willows, and here and there were masses of blueberry 

 bushes about a foot in height. The country about the nest was a sand plain, 

 with a few marshy sloughs, but most of the land was brushy, chiefly willows, 

 cherry, hazel, black and scrub oaks, and poplars. 



This nest was located near the margin of a scrub-oak area that bordered an 

 extensive grassy marsh. The edge of the marsh was only a few feet distant. 

 The nest was very shallow and lined with sticks, grass, and a few leaves and 

 grouse feathers. Growing about the nest were vines and grass, and the whole 

 was well concealed by a mass of blueberry bushes. 



Gross saj^s further : 



Judged from the situations in which these five nests were found, the sharp- 

 tailed grouse chooses a nesting site remote from farms and in places where 

 there is considerable brushy growth. The prairie-chicken nests, however, are 

 nearly all near farms or on the farmed fields, such as the meadows and alfalfa 

 and clover fields. Though the nesting sites vary considerably, the birds are 

 frequently seen together during the hunting season, and Mr. Cole, local game 

 warden at Wisconsin Rapids, states that on one occasion he killed a prairie 

 chicken and a sharp-tailed grouse with one shot. Several times in traversing the 

 prairies I have seen both species together, this summer (1930). 



Eggs. — From 10 to 13 eggs generally constitute the full set for the 

 sharp-tailed grouse, but as many as 14 or 15 are sometimes found in a 

 nest. Thejr are ovate in shape, and the shell is smooth, with a slight 

 gloss. They are quite dark colored when first laid and have a pur- 

 plish bloom, but the bloom disappears vary quickly and the color 

 gradually fades. The colors vary from " buckthorn brown " or " old 

 gold " to " dark olive-buff " or " olive-buff." Many eggs are almost, or 

 quite, immaculate, but more often they are speckled with very small 

 spots or minute dots of dark brown. The measurements of 58 eggs 

 average 42.6 by 32 millimeters; the eggs showing the four extremes 

 measure 45.2 by 33.8, 44.2 by 34.1, 40 by 31, and 41 by 30 millimeters. 



Young. — The period of incubation is about 21 clays, and this duty 

 is probably performed by the female alone. Only one brood is 

 raised in a season. Seton (Thompson, 1890) writes: 



A partial history of the young in a wild state is briefly as follows: At the 

 age of weeks they are fully feathered and at 2 months fully grown, although 

 still under guidance of the mother at this time. There is usually not more than 

 six or seven young ones left out of the original average brood of fifteen, which 

 statement shows the number of chicks which fall a prey to their natural enemies, 

 while many sets of eggs also are destroyed by the fires which annually devastate 

 the prairies. As the fall advances they gather more and more into flocks and 

 become regular visitors to the stubble fields, and, in consequence, regular 



