Grouse of the Northern Cattle Plains 75 



really after deer or antelope; though every now 

 and then I have taken a day with the shotgun 

 after nothing else but prairie fowl. 



The sharp-tailed prairie fowl is much the most 

 plentiful of the feathered game to be found on the 

 northern cattle plains, where it replaces the com- 

 mon 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 latter, being one of 

 the grouse which keep to the open, treeless tracts, 

 though it is far less averse to timber than is its 

 nearest relative, and often is found among the 

 cottonwood trees and thick brush which fringe 

 the streams. I have never noticed that its habits 

 when pursued differ much from those of the com- 

 mon 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, con- 

 tinually moving westward as the wheat fields ad- 

 vance, 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 regular hunt after these grouse. This is partly 

 because most of them look with something akin 



