CHAPTER XIII. 



GROUSE. 



THEEE 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, com- 

 mencing 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 recognised 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, Minnesota, 

 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 mile or even more distance will be traversed 

 from the place where they are flushed till they think 

 proper to alight. On the contrary, early in the 

 shooting season, they will lay with such persistency 

 that many efforts of both dog and sportsman will be 



