COLUMBIAN SHARP. TAILED GROUSE. 



127 



and " dance " in a similar way to that described in the 

 article on the Pinnated Grouse, although, if possible, 

 they are more active in their movements and exhibit 

 greater excitement. This " saturnalia " is preparatory 

 to selecting mates for the serious business of the ap- 

 proaching nesting season, and the males make the most 

 frantic efforts to cause themselves to appear attractive to 

 the numerous hens gathered around. They have, like 

 the Pinnated and some other Grouse, a loose skin on the 

 sides of the neck, capable of being inflated, swelling out 

 like two great oranges, one on either side, which emit, 

 when being exhausted, a sound that has been likened 

 tc a " bubbling crow," quite different to the organ-like 

 " boom " of the Prairie Chicken. Incubation begins the 

 latter part of April, the nest being placed in a bunch of 

 grass, well concealed from view, and consists of a depres- 

 sion lined with grass and occasionally some feathers from 

 the hen's abdomen. On this are deposited from ten to 

 fifteen eggs, pale buff or brown in color, covered with 

 very fine reddish brown spots. In about three weeks 

 the young appear, active little creatures running about 

 as soon as they are freed from the shell, and are carefully 

 watched and tended by the hen, who is always ready to 

 guard and defend them with great courage and deter- 

 mination. Like the young of all Grouse, insects are the 

 principal means of subsistence at this early period of their 

 lives, and later they feed on seeds, leaves, and berries. 

 Toward September the young are pretty well grown, and 

 later they pack, assembling in large flocks, and are then 

 usually wild and difficult to approach. In certain parts 

 of their dispersion they resort to swamps and near-by 

 woods. In winter they frequently retire to the timbered 

 country, probably as a refuge from severe storms and 

 deep snows, and at this time may often be seen perched 



