SHARP-TAILED GROUSE 267 



them; and often, going away after such want of suc- 

 cess, one may look back to find the heads of the whole 

 lot raised above the grass, intently regarding his re- 

 treat. It is astonishing how closely they can squat 

 even laying the head flat upon the ground, and appear- 

 ing scarcely half their natural size. At this season 

 their food appears to be chiefly grasshoppers. I have 

 opened numbers to find their crops crammed with these 

 insects, only varied with a few flowers, weed-tops, 

 succulent leaves, and an occasional beetle or spider. 



"By the first of October the sharp-tailed grouse have 

 mostly finished the renewal of their plumage, are all 

 full grown and strong of wing; their habits are con- 

 siderably modified. They grow wary and watchful, 

 flushing often at long distances to fly clear out of 

 sight, and running far on the ground. They also be- 

 gin to alight on trees, a habit, however, not confirmed 

 until somewhat later, when, with the advance of cold 

 weather and the failure of former supplies of food, they 

 assume the routine of their winter life. The close 

 coveys of the earlier season are for the most part broken 

 up, and the birds wander often alone in search of food. 

 They haunt the interminable ravines along the Mis- 

 souri, making away from the river bottoms in search 

 of food, but mostly returning at evening to roost in 

 the trees. Early in the morning they may be seen 

 leaving their perches in straggling troops, flying high 

 and swiftly to other feeding grounds; and again in 

 the evening, if one loiter beneath the immense cotton- 

 woods, where, during the day, scarcely a chicken was 



