124 Capt. Blakiston on the Birds of the 



error iu the ' Fauna Bor.-Am.' in the roforcuce to a tigure of this 

 species. ]il. 61 being evidently T. canadensis. 



92. Pedicecetes phasianellus. 



Taking the phice. on the northern prairies, of the Prairie Hen 

 {Cupidonid cupido'^, the Sharp-tailed Grouse (the ''Pheasant" 

 of the fur-traders and half-breeds, and A/ikis-skieu of the Cree 

 Indians) is very generally distributed throughout the interior. 

 It is found in the wooded districts, as well as on the plains ; but in 

 the former it generally resorts to the most open places. It came 

 nnder my observation first just below the forks of the Saskat- 

 chawan : and thence I found it to the Rocky ^Mountains, and 

 also at the western base of the range. It also inhabits Ked 

 River Settlement and Northern ^linnesota, extends eastward to 

 the shores of Hudson's Bay, and ^Mr. Ross notes it on the ^lac- 

 kenzie as far north as the Arctic Circle. My specimens {' Ibis,' 

 vol. iv. p. 8) were both obtained at Fort Carlton, in which 

 locality the bird was found to breed : the eggs are as many as a 

 dozen, of a chocolate-brown, with minute speckles of dark brown, 

 hatched on the ground. During my stay in the Indian country, 

 I could not but have constant opportunities of observing the 

 habits of the Sharp-tailed Grouse at all seasons of the year, 

 where I have shot hundreds oi them ; in fact, when hard pressed 

 for food, I oueu existed for days together on no otlier fare. Like 

 the Rutled Grouse, they seem to be polygamous, collecting in 

 the spring at ceitain chosen spots for the purpose of love-making 

 on a grand scale, as I shall presently describe. After the 

 breeding-season they are to be found in families at the edge of 

 the prairies, or rather in the semi-wooded country bordering the 

 treeless prairie wastes, where they often perch on trees, fre- 

 quently at the very tops ; and their crops are usually to be found 

 literally filled with berries, of which I have taken from a single 

 one as much as would fill a half-pint. These, in the fall of the 

 year, are the Bear-berry [Arctostaphijlos iiva-ursi), the " kinnik- 

 kinnik" of the Crees, the leaves of which are much used by the 

 half-breeds and Indians as a substitute for, or to mix with to- 

 bacco, the Ground- Juniper (Junipe)'us prosfratiis), the Snow-berry 

 {Sijmphoricarpus i-acemosus), the small Briers of the prairie {Rosa 



