516 THE BIRDS OF MANITOBA— THOMPSON. 



When feeding on tbe stubbles both species of Prairie Grouse associate together in: 

 the packs, but separate when the Sharp-tails go into the woods. (Nash, in MSS). 



100. Pediocaetes phasianellus. Northern Sbarp tail Grouse. 



Eesident in the Northeast. Some of these birds were shot near Dogs- 

 head Lake, Winnipeg; thence I have found them eastward, as far as^ 

 Long Lake and Pie River, on Lake Superior (Bell, 1880). Mr. Ridg- 

 way informs me that the Smithsonian Institution has a specimen of true 

 phasianellus from Lake Winnipeg ; at Rat Portage also I saw several 

 specimens shot in the vicinity (Thompson). Trout Lake Station (Mur- 

 ray). In great plenty near Cumberland House (Hearne, 1771). 



1 have seen them in great plenty near Cumberland House » * * frequently 

 perch on the tops of the highest poplars, out of moderate gunshot, and will not suf- 

 fer a near approach. They sometimes, when disturbed in this situation, dive into 

 the snow ; but the sportsman is equally balked in his expectations, as they force 

 their way so fast under it as to raise for flight many yards distant from the place they 

 entered, and very frequently in a different direction to that from which the sports- 

 man expects. This I assert from my own experience when at Cumberland House. 

 (Hearne.) 



Aukuskou. Pheasant grous * » » . These birds keep in pairs or snail flocks 

 and frequent the Juniper plains all the year. The buds of these trees are their prin- 

 cipal food in winter, as their berries are in summer. They generally inhabit about 

 the same spot, unless disturbed; their flights are short. They frequently walk on 

 the ground, and when raised will fly on the top of an adjacent tree. In June they 

 make a nest on the ground with grass and line it with their own feathers. They lay 

 from four to seven white eggs, with colored spots, and bring forth their youug about 

 the middle of June. (Hutchins MSS., Observations on Hudson Bay, 1762.) 



Eat Portage, October 11, 1886. Some Indians came to the door to-day with Prairie 

 Chickens to sell. So far as I could judge these did not ditt'er from specimens seen at 

 Port Arthur, and were probably referable to the typical form. (E. E. T.) 



100a. Pediocaetes phasianellus campestris. Prairie Chicken. 



Abundant and resident throughout the South and West (the Car- 

 berry form is, according to Mr. Ridgway, nearer to campestris than to 

 phasianellus) ; abundant resident ; abounds from Pembina to the 

 Rockies, along the line (Coues). Winnipeg: Stinking River and Long 

 Lake; summer resident; abundant (Hine). Red River Settlement 

 (Blakiston). Several times observed from the trains between Winnipeg 

 and Rat Portage (Thompson). Ossowo : Resident ; breeding (Wagner). 

 Portage la Prairie: Abundant; resident (Nash). Very abundant on the 

 prairies from Livingstone southward in 1881, but not noted at all in the 

 Winnepegosis region (Macoun). Carberry : Abundant; resident ; partly 

 migratory, as it lives on the prairies in summer and in the woods in win- 

 ter; noted at Sewell, Chater, Brandon, north slope of Turtle Mount- 

 ain jis far as Pelican Lake, throughout the country from Carberry to 

 Fort Ellice, and northwards in prairie localities to Cote's Reserve 

 (Thompson). Qu'Appelle : Common ; permanent resident ; breeds 

 (Guernsey). 



April 18, 1882. Saw a flock of about thirty Prairie Chickens. Shot 



