SHARP-TAILED GROUSE 263 



one, we find the nest to be merely a few spears of grass, 

 pressed down and somewhat circularly arranged with, 

 in all probability, a few feathers that appear to have 

 rather been mechanically detached from the mother 

 bird than laid down by design. If the place is near our 

 northern border, and early in June, we shall probably 

 find the eggs quite fresh ; but by the third week of that 

 month they will be about hatching. At this period, 

 should we, for any sufficient reason, destroy the setting 

 bird, we should find her in sad plight her plumage, 

 harsh and worn, entirely gone from a large space on 

 her belly; her flesh thin and flabby, and her crop con- 

 taining only a few buds of some weed that grows 

 close by her nest, with some grasshoppers or other 

 insects. 



"No bird is a more faithful mother than this grouse ; 

 no one clings to her eggs more steadfastly, or guards 

 her young with more sedulous care. In proof of how 

 close she will set while incubating, let me mention two 

 instances that came under my observation. One poor 

 bird was actually trodden upon and killed, and some 

 of her eggs smashed. On another occasion, I drove 

 a large four-mule ambulance over a nest; the animals 

 shied as they stepped over it, when the bird fluttered 

 out from between their legs. Stopping instantly, I 

 discovered the nest just between the hinder wheels. 

 The grouse lies hard and close, never relinquishing hope 

 of escaping observation until the last moment. 



"The young, as usual among gallinaceous birds, run 

 about almost as soon as they are hatched, and it is in- 



