128 GAME BIRDS OF NORTH AMERICA. 



on trees. I think, however, this is a common habit of 

 all Sharp-tailed Grouse if they happen to be in a country 

 where trees abound, and it is a very usual occurrence in 

 winter, or early in the morning during the autumn, to 

 see numbers of Grouse standing or sitting upon the 

 branches. When flushed they always cackle as they rise,- 

 and fly swiftly in a straight line, alternately sailing along 

 and then flapping the wings with a few quick, short 

 strokes. They are able to go long distances without 

 stopping, but, as a rule, when not much hunted, they 

 alight after making a short flight. As the country be- 

 comes settled this Grouse is more seldom met with, as 

 it retires to the wilder portions of the land, for, unlike' 

 the Pinnated Grouse, it is a bird of the wilderness and 

 shuns man's habitations. 



PEDICECETES PHASIANELLUS COLUMBIANUS. 



Geographical Distribution. — Eastern Rocky Mountains, from 

 Montana and Wyoming to Oregon and Washington, then north- 

 ward west of mountains to Central Alaska. 



Adult Male. — Upper parts, grayish buff, with but a little of 

 the rusty hue (this, if present, confined to the middle of the 

 back), and barred, mottled, and occasionally blotched with black; 

 the white markings and spots on scapulars and wings not so con- 

 spicuous as in the previous species, when contrasted with the 

 hue of the general plumage; throat and sides of face pale buff, 

 with a cluster of brown spots on the cheeks; breast, light buff, 

 rest of under parts and flanks, white, all with longitudinal lines 

 of blackish brown, sometimes rounded at the tip, sometimes in- 

 clined to aV-shape; lengthened central tail feathers, like the 

 rump, lateral ones grayish white, barred with blackish brown, es- 

 pecially on outer webs; under tail-coverts, white barred with black- 

 ish brown, chiefly on the outer webs ; legs, covered to the toes 

 with brownish white feathers ; maxilla, horn color ; mandible, 

 brownish white. Total length, about 15^ inches; wing, 7f ; tail, 4^. 



Adult Female. — Closely resembles the male, but the central 

 tail feathers barely extend beyond the lateral ones. 



