214 PRAIRIE AND FOREST. 



same range of country, the habitat of the former commences 

 where that of the latter ceases, and extends up to almost 

 the 60th degree of north latitude. Although occasionally 

 flushed in packs, they are more frequently seen in pairs, 

 and the denser the cover and more swampy the soil, the 

 more abundant will they be found. So little do these birds 

 dread a human being, that they will often remain perched 

 upon a limb till a snare on the end of a rod can be passed 

 over their heads. This trustfulness of man's good inten- 

 tions towards them seriously militates against the amuse- 

 ment they would otherwise aiford the sportsman. By the- 

 residents of the localities this bird inhabits, they are not 

 considered good food, for the reason that their back and 

 thighs strongly possess that peculiar game flavour for 

 which epicures value the Scotch bird. No. 6 or 7 shot will 

 be found the best suited for their destruction. 



SAGE GROUSE, or SAGE HEN, is a gross, heavy, awkward, 

 but handsomely plumaged bird; it is almost unedible from 

 living upon the buds of the wild sage plant, and can only 

 be found where this shrub grows, viz. on the vast plains on 

 the eastern slopes of the Rocky Mountains, for several 

 degrees north and south of the 38th degree of latitude. 



PTAEMIGAN. 



I remember asking a true representative of the Indian 

 brave, a member of the Sioux tribe, what he thought the 

 " happy hunting ground " was like that he hoped to go to 

 when he left this world ; his answer was, " One vast 

 country without limits, divided into prairie, meadow, and 

 timber land, where all the wild game teemed, and was BO 



