CHAPTER II. 

 THE PINNATED GROUSE. 



Grouse — Their haunts — Diflferences between the European and American 

 species — How to distinguish each genus — The prairie fowl — Gen- 

 eral hue — Pugnacious males — The use of the gular sacs — Birds 

 breed in captivity — Artifices of the female to protect her young — 

 Her signal of danger — Increase in the number of grouse — The 

 color of the llesh changed by frosty weather— The shooting season 

 —Haunts of the birds— Marking them down on tbe prairie— How 

 dogs should be trained— The Texas variety of pinnated grouse — 

 Shooting from an open carriage— The best grouse regions — Num- 

 ber of prairie fowl destroyed annually— A stirring scene— Sir 

 Thomas More's opinion of sport— A Western Diana— A day with 

 the prairie chickens— Rivals in the field— A runaway — Good luck- 

 How we spent St. Prairie Chicken Day. 



Grouse are more abundant in Canada and the United 

 States than in any other part of the world, especially in 

 the western and north-western divisions, where they still 

 have plenty of room, both in the forest and on the 

 prairie, in which to thrive and multiply. Of the various 

 species and their varieties known on the American Con- 

 tinent, the prairie fowl and the sharp-tailed grouse are 

 confined to prairies; the sage-cock is a denizen of the 

 sterile plains where artemisia prevails ; the ptarmigans 

 freqtient the more arctic portions of the country and 

 the snowy mountains; and those placed under tlie head 

 of Canace and Bonasa inhabit wooded regions. 



The American species of wood grouse are considered to 

 be generically distinct from the TetraoniiicB of Europe, 

 taking the capercailzie {T. urogallus) as the type, as the 

 latter has a high, compressed, and light-colored bill, 

 lengthened and stiffened feathers on the head and neck, 

 and metallic colors. The Canace proper, which is repre- 

 sented by the spruce-grouse, has its nearest analogue in 

 06 



