189 



CHAPTER Xlll. 



GROUSE. 



THERE are supposed to be upwards of twenty species of 

 grouse upon the continent of North America. However, 

 they have never been strictly classified, so I will confine 

 my remarks to those best known, commencing with the 

 pinnated grouse, prairie chicken, or prairie hen, for by all 

 these names this noble bird is recognised in different 

 localities. During my sojourn across the Atlantic I recog- 

 nised three distinctly marked varieties of this species two 

 only differing in colour of plumage and size ; the third 

 having a tail longer by some inches than its confreres and 

 terminating in a point. This last has its habitat in higher 

 latitude than the others, being found in the greatest 

 abundance on the plains that surround the Saskatchewan 

 river, while the former are common to all the prairie 

 country of the States of Indiana, Illinois, Iowa, Minne- 

 sota, and Michigan, even as far south as Texas. The 

 flight of all is swift, powerful, and prolonged, so that late 

 in autumn, when the young birds have reached maturity^ a 



