COLUMBIA SHARP-TAIL GROUSE. 139 



the buffaloberry, and several kinds of buds. They have 

 also been known to feed on caterpillars and other insects 

 baked and crisped by prairie fires. Captain Blakiston was 

 also an eye witness of one of the singular love performances 

 of these birds, known as dances. His account of it, which 

 is very full, is almost exactly in correspondence with the 

 account referred to as given by Mr. Lord. 



Mr. Kidgway met with this Grouse at one locality only, 

 encountering them late in September in the Upper Hum- 

 boldt Valley. There it was found in considerable numbers 

 in the rye-grass meadows on the foot-slopes of the Clover 

 Mountains. They were startled from the ground, where 

 they were hidden in the grass, and when surprised fre- 

 quently took refuge in the willow-thickets along the 

 streams near by. Their flesh was found to be most excel- 

 lent. The eggs of this species vary considerably in size, 

 but average about 1,80 inches in length, and 1,30 in breadth. 

 They are oval in shape, slightly pointed at one end. Their 

 ground varies from a light clay to a dark rusty brown, 

 generally plain, but frequently speckled minutely with 

 fine dottings of a darker brown. 



