196 The Grouse Family 



prairies east of the Rockies from Montana to 

 New Mexico, and from Wisconsin and Illinois to 

 Colorado. Among sportsmen it is known as 

 " pintail," " sharptail," and " whitebelly," and by 

 many, including the writer, it is deemed a bet- 

 ter bird than the pinnated grouse, from which, 

 in habits, it presents no marked variation. It is 

 extremely probable that this species was once 

 abundant much farther east than its present limit, 

 but it has drifted before the advance of agricul- 

 tural operations until it has come to be considered 

 as being peculiarly a bird of the great grassy 

 opens. Early in the season it sticks to the grass, 

 but so soon as the air becomes sharp it hangs 

 more and more about brushy slopes and ravines, 

 or clumps of small timber. Upon a crisp morn- 

 ing the birds may be seen by dozens in the trees, 

 upon stacks, and frequently upon the roofs of 

 outbuildings. 



The love-making antics (" chicken dances " of 

 the settlers) are, if anything, more absurd than 

 the performances of the pinnated grouse. They 

 are marked by the same curious strutting and 

 posturing, and furious battles, while the noise of 

 the excited males may be heard far across the 

 open. Occasionally this booming is heard late 

 in the season, the writer having noted it upon 

 several occasions while he was lawfully seeking 

 the game. 



