SHARP-TAILED GROUSE, ETC. 173 



of white, and there are similar roundish spots upon the 

 wing-coverts. The head and neck are a brownish buff, 

 which 'shades into pure white on the breast. On the 

 throat are dusky spots, which, on the breast, become rich 

 brown, Y-shaped lines the conspicuous and distinctive 

 markings of the bird. The feathering of the feet is a 

 pale gray. It took a shorter time to pick the birds than 

 to describe them, and with the drawing came another 

 surprise. Not a tint of s;jge could be detected, and the 

 crop was full of rose-fruit, wild currants, bear-berries, 

 and other mountain delicacies, thereby proving them to 

 have been dainty feeders. The flesh was light-colored, 

 tender, juicy, and we considered it the choicest of our 

 Rocky Mountain game birds. Such was my introduction 

 to the "white-belly," "willow grouse," and "spotted 

 chicken" of the cow-boy and the mountaineer, the sharp- 

 tailed grouse of the sportsman, and the PediocaetespJiasi- 

 anellus columbianus of the naturalist. The name willow 

 grouse is also applied to the ptarmigans, though they are 

 generally known as white or mountain quail. Similar 

 to the male, but smaller, and with tail-feathers shorter, 

 is the female. 



The Columbian sharp-tailed grouse is common in the 

 region north of Great Salt Lake and west of the Black 

 Hills. East of the mountains, its place is taken by the 

 prairie sharp-tailed grouse, the rusty color of the latter 

 being the principal specific difference. The sharp-tail of 

 the mountains belongs to the region of the quaking aspens, 

 of purple bear-berries, and of white mountain columbine; 

 to the beautiful valleys that are to be found at an altitude 

 of 6,000 feet, between the sage-brush and the pines, 

 between the home of the cock-of-the-plains and the haunts 

 of the ptarmigans. 



With the first signs of spring, long before the leaves 

 appear or the grass is green, the birds fly from the thickets 



