^%o.'"] PROCEEDINGS OF THE NATIONAL MUSEUM. 519 



are always attainable, as they grow everywhere and do not fall when 

 ripe. In tlie course of my experience I have examined some hundreds 

 of gizzards of the Prairie Chicken, and do not recollect ever finding 

 one devoid of the stony seeds of the wild rose. It is i)robable that 

 the service is mutual, for these seeds secure a better distribution after 

 being swallowed by the grouse; and as they were passed out with 

 possibly increased vitality they may germinate more readily for the 

 thinning their outer coat would receive during the grinding operation. 



After the disappearance of the snow and the coming of warmer 

 weather, the chickens meet every morning at gray dawn in companies 

 of from six to twenty on some selected hillock or kuoU and indulge in 

 what is called " the dance." This performance I have often watched. 

 It presents the most amusing spectacle I have yet witnessed in bird 

 life. At first, the birds may be seen standing about in ordinary atti- 

 tudes, when suddenly one of them lowers its head, spreads out its 

 wings nearly horizontally and its tail perpendicularly, distends its air 

 sacs and erects its feathers, then rushes across the " floor," taking the 

 shortest of steps, but stamping its feet so hard and rapidly that the 

 sound is like that of a kettle drum ; at the same time it utters a sort 

 of bubbling crow, which seems to come from the air sacs, beats the air 

 with its wings, and vibrates its tail so that it produces a low, rustling 

 noise, and thus contrives at once to make as extraordinary a spectacle 

 of itself and as much noise as possible. 



As soon as one commences all join in, rattling, stamping, drumming, 

 crowing, and dancing together furiously ; louder and louder the noise, 

 faster and faster the dance becomes, until at last, as they madly whirl 

 about, the birds are leaping over each other in their excitement. After 

 a brief spell the energy of the dancers begins to abate, and shortly 

 afterwards they cease and stand or move about very quietly, until they 

 are again started by one of their number " leading off." 

 ■ Tne whole performance reminds one so strongly of a Cree dance as 

 to suggest the possibility of its being the prototype of the Indian exer- 

 cise. The space occupied by the dancers is from 50 to 100 feet across, 

 and as it is returned to year after year, the grass is usually worn off 

 and the ground trampled down hard and smooth. The dancing is in- 

 dulged in at any time of the morning or evening in May, but it is usu- 

 ally at its height before sunrise. Its erotic character can hardly be 

 questioned, but I can not fix its place or value in the nuptial ceremo- 

 nies. The fact that I have several times noticed the birds join for a 

 brief set-to in the late fall merely emphasizes its i)arallelism to the 

 drumming and strutting of the partridge, as well as the singing of 

 small birds. 



The whole affair bears a close resemblance to the maneuvering of the 

 European Ruff, and from this and other reasons I am inclined to sus- 

 pect the Sharptail of polygamy. When the birds are disturbed on the 

 hill they immediately take wing and scatter, uttering, as they risa, 



