GROUSE. 119 



they soon stretch out their necks to survey the intruder, and re- 

 sume their circular course, some running to the right, and others 

 to the left, meeting and crossing each other. The males ruffle up 

 their feathers and circle around each other as if about to commence 

 a furious battle, while the females make up the audience. Blood, 

 however, is rarely or never spilled, and after a week or two of this 

 sort of amusement, the covey separates to commence preparations 

 for nesting. The nest of the Sharp-tailed Grouse is placed upon 

 the ground, and consists merely of a slight hollow, lined with a 

 few blades of grass. The eggs vary in number from ten to fifteen, 

 and are greenish white in color, with some dots of dark olive. 



An interesting fact in the history of this species, is that it seems 

 to retire before the advance of the settlements, while its place is 

 taken by the Pinnated Grouse. Thus in Minnesota, where for- 

 merly the White-bellies abounded, and the Prairie Chicken was 

 unknown, the former are now becoming each year more scarce, 

 and the latter more abundant. The Pinnated Grouse seems to 

 follow the husbandman, and to be far less wild and untamable 

 than the Sharp-tailed. 



It is said that in entering a wheat field, the Sharp-tailed Grouse 

 always flies, and thus cannot be trailed by a dog, but must be 

 winded, while the Prairie Chicken always goes to feed on foot, and 

 may thus be roaded up by a dog. 



Cupidonia cupida.—B&xrd. Pinnated Grouse. Prairie Chicken. 



No member of the Grouse family is better known than the 

 Prairie Chicken of the Western States, and none is more numerous 

 or more eagerly sought for by sportsmen. This species is from 

 eighteen to twenty inches in length. Its color is blackish brown, 

 varied above and below with tawny ; the under tail coverts and 

 vent are white, and the throat buff. The sides of the neck are 

 ornamented with little wing-like tufts of feathers (whence the 

 name pinnated), and beneath these are two naked bare spaces, 

 which in the breeding season during the " tooting " of the male 

 bird, are distended until they reach the size of an orange. The 

 " tooting " is the call of the male bird, and is only heard during 

 the early spring. At this season the Grouse are great fighters, 

 dashing at each other with more display than effect, and with little 



