PINNATED-GROUSE SHOOTING. 59 



cording to the season and the situation, but every 

 year there are some broods early, some late, and 

 some very late, the latter being brought off by 

 hens which have lost their first nests. By the 

 fifteenth of August some of the broods are about 

 full grown ; but they are then tame, and, having 

 grown so rapidly, are weak on the wing, and soon 

 tire. I believe hybrids have been produced by 

 the hen-grouse and the bantam cock. Last spring, 

 at Omaha, Nebraska, I saw in the possession of 

 Mr. George A. Hoagland, President of the Shoot- 

 ing Club, a bird of the preceding year, which had 

 been shot out of a covey of seven or eight. This 

 bird was believed to be a hybrid. There was 

 another of the same brood in the town, and both 

 were well stuffed and set up. All the brood were 

 alike as to markings and appearance. Their size 

 was that of a grouse two-thirds grown. In shape 

 they were more like the bantam or barn-door 

 fowl than the grouse. The ground color of their 

 plumage was a dingy white, but they were spangled 

 all over with feathers colored and barred like 

 those of grouse. That they were hatched by a 

 hen-grouse is unquestionable, for she was often 

 seen with them. She made her nest close to a 

 house, and it was believed that a domestic cock 



