562 GAME BIBDS OF CALIFORNIA 



Tliough tlic grouse usually keep well hidden in suninxer, in winter when their 

 plumage lias become dense and their feet and legs rabbit-like, they may be seen 

 crossing the fields on top of the snow or getting their breakfast of buds from the 

 tops of the trees and tall bushes. When the weather is cold and snow deep and 

 soft they often roost under the snow like the ruffed grouse, and come out in the 

 morning fifteen or twenty feet from where they entered the white surface at night 

 (V. Bailey, in Bailey, 1902, p. 132). 



Cameron (1907, pp. 256-258) thus describes the "dancing" of 

 the Prairie Sharp-tailed Grouse (a subspecies closely related to the 

 Columbian). On April 18 the ball was opened by a single male mak- 

 ing a run across an open space as fast as he could move his legs, the 

 tail being held stiffly raised over the back, while the wings dragged 

 so that a large white area was exposed behind. The vivid yellow 

 fringe above each eye was erected and all of the feathers on the neck 

 stood on end so that the inflated, underlying pink-skinned sac was 

 disclosed. At the same time the head was carried so low as almost 

 to touch the ground, giving the impression (with the raised tail) 

 that the bird was running backwards. The bird returned at full 

 speed whereupon another male came forward to meet him. Both 

 advanced slowly with vibrating tails. "When they met they stood 

 with wing quills quivering, their eyes then being closed. After per- 

 haps a minute one bird would take a peep at the other, and seeing him 

 still quiescent would resume an upright and graceful carriage and 

 quietly steal away. The second bird would presently awake — then 

 also quietly depart. Meanwhile the remaining males took up the 

 running until all were participating. After an hour or so the females 

 commenced to make short runs, but they did not display air sacs as 

 did the males. Later on, birds were to be seen at the same moment 

 in all stages of the dance. The end of the dance was, however, the 

 same with each pair. For about twenty minutes two birds would 

 squat flat on the ground with their bills almost touching; after this 

 they would not again enter the dance during that day. "While some 

 members of the flock were dancing, others concealed in the sage- 

 brush acted the part of spectators, and kept up an incessant coo, coo, 

 coo, as if to applaud. The whole affair was quite friendly without 

 any tendency toward combat. The dance ended for the day when 

 some bird unable to find a partner for running, uttered a disgusted 

 cluck. After this, as their periods of squatting were completed, the 

 birds would fly scatteringly away. 



By the end of April the play of the dance was more vigorous. 

 "Drumming" [scraping] with the tail was louder, and crouching 

 more in evidence and prolonged. Also, if squatting pairs were 

 approached by single birds, the latter would be driven away by a 

 typical run on the part of one of the squatting pair. If danger in 



