GAME BIRDS AND LARGER NON-GAME BIRDS 163 
cial governments of Manitoba, Saskatchewan, and Alberta 
were compelled to establish an absolute close season. Com- 
plaints have been made that the use of poisoned grain in the 
Prairie Provinces in the destruction of gophers, or ground- 
squirrels, has been responsible for the deaths of prairie 
chicken. The investigations of Pierce and Clegg in Cali- 
fornia on quail, and of Bradshaw in Saskatchewan, have 
shown that under natural feeding conditions poisoned grain 
will not kill these birds. 
The Prairie Sharp-tailed Grouse.—Unlike its near relative, 
the pinnated grouse, this bird, which is commonly known 
as the ‘“‘prairie chicken” on our prairies, retreats before 
settlement. It is more usually found in deep woods and on 
uncultivated land overgrown with poplar, willow, or other 
low-growing trees, and it may be found throughout such 
wooded sections in the Prairie Provinces. The pinnated 
grouse keeps in the open country and frequents the willow 
scrub in the winter for protection. 
The Scarcity of Grouse.-—During the last few years there 
has been a remarkable and almost alarming decrease in the 
number of grouse throughout Canada, from the Atlantic to 
the Pacific. The chief species, such as ruffed grouse or 
partridge, pinnated grouse or prairie chicken, and sharp- 
tailed grouse, were all affected, and in some sections of the 
country they disappeared almost completely. Many fac- 
tors contributed to their scarcity. Of the artificial factors 
there is no doubt that overshooting, particularly for the 
market, was responsible for the scarcity of birds; this is 
especially the case in the Prairie Provinces, where the in- 
creasing use of the automobile in hunting ‘‘chickens’”’ has 
increased the slaughter of birds to a serious degree. Natural 
factors have played an important réle. In the case of all 
species, cold, wet springs have killed off the young birds. 
Many reports indicate that large numbers of ruffed grouse 
have been killed in the spring. They have been imprisoned 
