14 FEATHERED GAME 



as not escapes. At the season 's opening they 

 are easy marks and readily killed, but when 

 later they "pack" for the winter they are 

 strong fliers and wary enough, giving only the 

 longest of shots. The shooting at this season 

 really calls for some degree of skill. 



Our bird nests in June or even in the first 

 half of July, which seems late for this latitude, 

 making its nest on the ground in a brushy shel- 

 ter, and laying from six to twelve eggs, usually 

 nearer the smaller number. The eggs are of a 

 greenish gray color. 



In its markings the Heath Hen does not dif- 

 fer materially from the ordinary form of 

 Prairie Chicken though of slightly darker col- 

 oring. The description of one will pass for the 

 other and is as follows : the Pinnated Grouse, 

 as this bird is named in the books, (so called 

 from the neck-tufts, like small wings, the dis- 

 tinguishing mark of the genus) varies in length 

 from sixteen to eighteen inches. Upper parts 

 dull pale yellow or whitish, regularly barred 

 across the body and wings with dark brown and 

 dusky ; throat pale yellow with a few scattering 

 speckles of dusky color. Under parts marked 

 much like the upper, but the barrings more 



