THE PINNATED GROUSE. 381 



tniddh; the feathers stiffened, nearly linear and truncate: the tail is scarcely longer 

 than the coverts, and half the length of the wing ; tarsi covered with feathers anteriorly 

 and laterally to the toes, but bare, with hexagonal scutellfe behind ; the middle toe 

 and claw longer than the tarsus ; the toes margined by pectinated processes ; a space 

 above the eye provided with a dense pectinated process in the breeding season, 

 sometimes separated fi-om the eye by a superciliary space covered with feathers. 



Length, sixteen and fifty one-hundredths inches; wing, eight and eighty one- 

 hundredths; tail, four and seventy one-hundredths inches. 



Althoiio'h once very abundant in many localities, the Pin- 

 nated Grouse is now about exterminated from the country 

 east of the Mississippi Valley. 



It was once found in considerable numbers, I am in- 

 formed, in some portions of Xew England, but does not 

 occur now in this section except on Martha's Vineyard, 

 where it is still left in small numbers. It was also found 

 on Long Island, but not a single bird is now left there. I 

 think that none are now found in Ohio, and but few, com- 

 paratively, in Indiana and Michigan, but in Illinois, Iowa, 

 Kansas, I^ebraska, Minnesota, Missouri, and Wisconsin it is 

 still very abundant. " Prairie Chicken " shooting is one of 

 (^ the finest of all the field sports of the West. 



Early in the fall the birds are foimd in large bevies in 

 wheat and oat stubbles and in the open pastures and prai- 

 ries. In such localities, before the Grouse have become wild, 

 the sportsman makes large " bags," an ordinary shot being 

 able to bring in, as the result of a day's shooting, from ten 

 to twenty brace. 



But later in the season, when the Grouse are wild and 

 strong on the wing, the sportsman must be quick and sure 

 in his aim to be able to make much of a showing. 



The Grouse late in the fall are mostlv found in the corn- 

 fields, and as the Western cornstalks grow to a height of 

 eight or ten feet, and close together at that, it is easily seen 

 how good a chance the birds have for getting away. One 

 of the peculiarities of the Piimated Grouse is thus described 

 bv Wilson : 



