THE LESSER PRAIRIE HEN. 97 



U. S. National Museum collection, contain seven eggs each, and are probably 

 incomplete. They are somewhat lighter colored than the eggs of the common 

 Prairie Hen and almost unmarked, but this is perhaps not constant. Their 

 shape is ovate. 



The ground color varies from pale creamy white to buff. The markings, 

 which are all very fine, not larger than pin-points, are lavender colored. More 

 than two-thirds of the eggs are unspotted, and all look so till closely examined. 

 In size they average a trifle smaller than the eggs of the Prairie Hen. The 

 mean measurement of twenty-two specimens in the U. S. National Museum 

 collection is 42 by 32.5 millimetres. The largest egg measures 43.5 by 33.5, 

 the smallest 41 by 31 millimetres. 



The type specimen, No. 4011 (PL 3, Fig. 1), was obtained June 1, 1860, 40 

 miles west of Fort Cobb, Indian Territory, by C. S. McCarthy. This set con- 

 tained seven eggs. 



35. Pediocaetes phasianellus (LINNAEUS). 



SHARP-TAILED GROUSE. 



Teirnn phasianellus LINN/EUS, Systema Naturae, ed. 10, I, 1758, 160. 

 Pedioccptes phasianellus ELLIOT, Proceedings Academy Natural Sciences, Phila., 

 1862, 403 (nee BAIRD, 1858, qui subsp. colimibianus). 



(B , a 383, R 478, C 561, U 308.) 



GEOGRAPHICAL RANGE : Interior of British America, east of Rocky Mountains, 

 about James Bay (Moose Factory), and the western shore of Hudson Bay, northern 

 Manitoba ; north at least to Fort Simpson, Mackenzie River, Northwest Territory. 



The breeding range of the Sharp-tailed Grouse extends from about lati- 

 tude 52 north, and westward through British America to the eastern slopes of 

 the Rocky Mountains, as far north as latitude 69, and probably still farther 

 within the Arctic circle. Mr. C. P. Gaudet, of the Hudson Bay Company, 

 found it breeding in latitude 68, near Fort Good Hope, in the Mackenzie 

 River Basin. Its northeastern range is not well denned, but it probably reaches 

 the northern shores of Hudson Bay, and breeds possibly as far south as Moose 

 Factory, James Bay, about latitude 51, 40'. It seems to be especially 

 abundant in the vicinity of Great Slave Lake, between latitude 61 and 63; 

 most of the eggs in the U. S. National Museum collection coming either from 

 Forts Rae, Providence, or Resolution, all three posts situated on different parts 

 of this lake. 



Comparatively little is as yet known about the breeding habits of this 

 subspecies. There is no reason to suppose, however, that they differ mate- 

 rially from those of its more southern relatives, which will be fully described. 

 The Sharp-tailed Grouse is said to inhabit the wooded districts of the fur 

 countries, as well as the borders of the extensive prairies or tundras near the 

 numerous lakes found throughout that region, and it is probably more or less 

 migratory in the winter. 

 26957 Bull. 1 7 



