Grouse. 6 ~ 



chance to use. But out in the cattle country it is the rifle 

 that is always carried by the ranchman who cares for sport. 

 Large game is still that which is sought after, and most of 

 the birds killed are either simply slaughtered for the pot, 

 or else shot for the sake of variety, while really after deer 

 or antelope ; though every now and then I have taken a 

 day with the shot-gun after nothing else but prairie fowl. 



The sharp-tailed prairie fowl is much the most plenti- 

 ful of the feathered game to be found on the northern 

 cattle plains, where it replaces the common prairie chicken 

 so abundant on the prairies to the east and southeast of 

 the range of our birds. In habits it is much like the lat- 

 ter, being one of the grouse which keep to the open, tree- 

 less tracts, though it is far less averse to timber than is its 

 nearest relative, and often is found among the cotton-wood 

 trees and thick brush which fringe the streams. I have 

 never noticed that its habits when pursued differ much 

 from those of the common prairie chicken, though it is 

 perhaps a little more shy, and is certainly much more apt 

 to light on a tree like the ruffed grouse. It is, however, 

 essentially a bird of the wilds, and it is a curious fact that 

 it seems to retreat before civilization, continually moving 

 westward as the wheat fields advance, while its place is 

 taken by the common form, which seems to keep pace with 

 the settlement of the country. Like the latter bird, and 

 unlike the ruffed grouse and blue grouse, which have white 

 meat, its flesh is dark, and it is very good eating from 

 about the middle of August to the middle of November, 

 after which it is a little tough. 



As already said, the ranchmen do not often make a 



