PRAIRIE SHARP-TAILED GROUSE, 133 
that alarms them, or taking wing when yet a long dis- 
tance off. The flight is also much more protracted at 
this time, the packs frequently keeping on until lost to 
view. 
At this period they are in the habit of perching much 
in trees, frequently on the tops of houses or any out- 
lying buildings. I have often seen a tree nearly full of 
Grouse, so thickly were they assembled on the branches, 
some sitting close to the limbs looking more like great 
bunches without any particular shape at all, while others 
would stand upright in a stiff, constrained attitude, with 
the neck drawn out to its fullest extent and held motion- 
less, and the legs showing to the full extent of the thighs. 
Sometimes they will remain in such situations even 
though shot at more than once, and occasionally a num- 
ber may be killed, if the lowest in the tree is selected, 
so that the falling body may not alarm the living birds 
and cause them to take flight. They appear much mag- 
nified when on the bran-hes, especially if their forms be 
sharply outlined against the sky. If much hunted their 
behavior in the trees changes, and as soon as anyone is 
seen approaching, the birds are at once on the qui vive, 
and, motionless, regard intently the object of their fears. 
Soon a warning kluck is heard, every head is raised and 
neck outstretched, and then with a loud kluck one bird 
takes wing, to be followed immediately by all the rest, ut- 
tering many kluck-klucks as they go. Usually they alight 
at no great distance, but their watchfulness is not less- 
ened, and if pursued, the same tactics are repeated. The 
food of this Grouse consists of insects, leaves, berries, 
and, wherever it grows, the hips of the wild rose, whose 
hard seeds, answering the purpose of gravel in helping to 
grind the food, are greedily eaten. It also feeds on grain 
when readily accessible, for as a rule these birds do not 
