CHAPTER XIV. 



GROUSE. 



THERE are supposed to be upward 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, commencing with the pin- 

 nated grouse, prairie-chicken, or prairie-hen, for by all these 

 names this noble bird is recognized in different localities. 

 During my sojourn across the Atlantic I recognized three 

 distinctly marked varieties of this species two only differ- 

 ing in color of plumage and size; the third having a tail 

 longer by some inches than its confr&res, 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, v lllinois, 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 required 

 before they can be induced to take wing. Their pursuit is 

 followed in the same manner as that of red grouse upon 

 Scotch moors, for their time of watering, dusting, and feed- 

 ing are almost identical. At the commencement of the 

 shooting season (which I believe is now on the 1st of Sep- 



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