GALLINACEOUS BIRDS 



Pale buff 



307. LESSER PRAIRIE CHICKEN. 



Tympanuchus pallidicinctus. 



Range. Prairies from southwestern Kansas 

 through Indian Territory to western Texas. 



A smaller and paler species than the Prairie 

 Chicken. Never as abundant as the common Pin- 

 nated Grouse, this species appears to be becoming 

 scarcer each year. Its nests are concealed under 

 overhanging brush or placed under a large tuft oi! 

 prairie grass, and are generally lined with a few 

 grasses or leaves. They lay from eight to twelve 

 eggs of a buffy color, much lighter than those of 

 the Prairie Chicken, and unmarked. Size 1.65 x 

 1.25. 



308. SHARP-TAILED GROUSE. 



Pedioecetes phasianellus phasianellus. 



Range. Interior of British America, from 

 the United States boundary northwest to the 

 Yukon. 



Sharp-tailed Grouse are similar in form to 



Prairie Sharp-tailed Grouse 



Buffy drab 



the Prairie Chicken, but are somewhat smaller 



and very much lighter in color, being nearly 



white below, with arrowhead markings on the 



breast and flanks. This species is very abundant in Manitoba and especially so 



on the plains west of Hudson Bay. Their nests are generally concealed under 



a thicket or a large tuft of grass, and are lined with grasses and feathers. 



They lay from <Sx to fi fteen eggs of a drab color, very minutely specked all over 



with brown. Size 1.70 x 1.25. 



308a. COLUMBIAN SHARP-TAILED GROUSE. Pedioecetes phasianellus col- 



umbianus. 



Range. Northwestern United States and British Columbia to central Alaska. 

 Both the nesting habits and eggs of this variety are the same as the last, with 

 which species, the birds gradually intergrade as their ranges approach. 

 308b. PRAIRIE SHARP-TAILED GROUSE. Pedioecetes phasianellus campes- 



tris. 



Range. Plains of the United States from the Mississippi to the Rockies. 

 This sub-species shades directly into the two preceding where their ranges meet, 

 and only birds from the extreme parts of the range of each show any marked 

 differences. The nesting habits and eggs of all three are not to be distin- 

 guished. 



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