NORTH AMERICAN BIRDS. 177 



terminated.* The eggs are described by Mr. Capen from a manuscript by Mr. 

 Maynard: "They are regularly oval in form, all the specimens being quite uniform 

 in this respect. The color is a yellowish-green of a peculiar shade, quite different 

 from the more decided greenish-brown seen in the Western species, from which 

 the eggs now at hand also differ in being unspotted. There is little variation in the 

 dimensions of all six, the average measurements being 1.72 by 1.27 inches." Mr. 

 Capen, in his beautiful work, also figures an egg from this sett This set of six in 

 Mr. Brewster's collection is the only one known of the Heath Hen so far as I am 

 aware. 



307. LESSER PRAIRIE HEN. Tympanuchus pallidicinctus Ridgw. Geog. 

 Dist. Eastern edge of Great Plains from Western and probably Southern Texas, 

 northward through Indian Territory to Kansas. 



The late Maj. Bendire says in his great work that the breeding range of the 

 Lesser Prairie Hen, a smaller, paler-colored species than T. americanus, is not as 

 well known as could be desired, and as far as our present knowledge goes includes 

 Southwestern Kansas and western parts of Indian Territory. Its general habits, its 

 nesting and eggs are similar to those of the common Prairie Hen, except that the 

 eggs are of a somewhat lighter color. The number laid is the same and, like the bird, 

 average a trifle smaller. 



308. SHARP-TAILED GROUSE. Pediocattes phasianellus (Linn.) Geog. 

 Dist. Interior of British America, from Lake Superior and Hudson Bay to Fort 

 Simpson. 



The Sharp-tailed Grouse, in its various forms, inhabits the western and north- 

 western plains of the United States and the northern portions of North America, fre- 

 quenting the grassy prairies and the wooded districts. It is commonly called Pin- 

 tail Grouse. The present species is said to be especially abundant in the territory be- 

 tween Great Bear Lake, Fort Simpson, and the country bordering Great Slave Lake. 

 It is found in the open glades or low thickets on the borders of streams and large 

 bodies of water, this being the case where the forests are partially cleared. At all 

 seasons it is found in small flocks, in the winter perching on trees, but keeping to the 

 ground in the summer. In winter it often hidesx in the deep snow, and works its way 

 under the surface with ease, feeding as it progresses on the buds of the willows, 

 larches, aspens, etc. Its food in the summer and autumn is principally berries. The 

 eggs are deposited in the first part of June in a nest on the ground, made of coarse 

 grasses and lined with feathers. The eggs are of a dark, tawny, minutely dotted or 

 speckled with darker spots of brown. The number laid ranges from six to fourteen, 

 usually twelve. The average size is 1.75x1.25. 



308a. COLUMBIAN SHARP-TAILED GROUSE. Pedioccetes phasianellus co- 

 lumbianus (Ord.) Geog. Dist. Plains of the Northwestern United States and British 

 Columbia to central portions of Alaska; northward chiefly west of the main Rocky 

 Mountains; eastward in Montana and Northeastern California. 



Dr. Coues says: The Pin-tailed Chicken inhabits the western portions of Min- 

 nesota, a small part of Iowa, all of Dakota, thence diagonally across Nebraska and 

 Kansas to Colorado in the Laramine and Upper Platte regions; from thence west- 

 ward in suitable localities to the Sierra Nevada and Cascade ranges; northern limit 



* See William Brewster's article on The Heath Hen in Massachusetts: Auk, II, 80-84. 

 t Oology of New England: Page 82, Plate XXIV, Fig. 4. 



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