NOTES ON THE BIRDS OF MANITOBA. 131 
the flesh of the Sharp-tailed Grouse, Pediewcetes phasianellus, 
always known as the “ Prairie Chicken.” To this bird, which is 
resident in Manitoba throughout the year, Mr. Seton has devoted 
much attention, and has elucidated many interesting points in 
its natural history. The nest is usually formed in long grass, 
generally near trees. In it the hen deposits fourteen to sixteen 
eggs, which, curiously enough, are rather smaller, as Mr. Seton 
points out, than those of the “‘ Quaily” (Bartram’s Sandpiper), 
a bird just one-eighth of its weight. The pairing is carried on in 
a very absurd fashion, parties of from one or two to twenty 
assembling in the early morning on some small hillock, and there 
dancing in a manner which is most ludicrous to behold. About 
the middle of August, or earlier, a row of stiff bristles commences 
to grow on each side of the toes of both old and young. These 
are fully grown by October, and henceforth the birds are provided 
with snow-shoes for use during the winter. In spring these 
bristles entirely drop off. The birds spend the summer out on 
the open prairie, and while it lasts they seldom perch on trees; 
but in winter they all adjourn to the bluffs and woods, and spend 
the time there feeding on the buds of the trees, and at night 
diving down into the soft snow-drifts for warmth and shelter. 
Although they bury themselves to the depth of about a foot, 
many are killed by wolves and foxes, whilst others are fatally 
imprisoned should a slight thaw and subsequent frost harden the 
surface of the drift. In early spring, before the snow is gone, 
they emerge again upon the prairies where the hips of the wild 
prairie-rose, which are held up above the snow, provide them with 
food, while the excessively hard seeds the hips contain act as a 
substitute for grit in the stomachs of the birds. Early in May they 
feed, like many other prairie animals, upon the blossoms of the 
abundant sandflower or prairie anemone, Anemone patens, var. 
nuttalliana; and later on they consume quantities of grass- 
hoppers, together with seeds and berries, but they never, so far 
as Mr. Seton has observed, touch grain. 
The Kildeer Plover, Aigialites vociferus, is not uncommon 
round some of the lakes. 
On August 3rd we shot several specimens of the Lesser 
Yellow-shanks, Totanus flavipes, and one of the Greater Yellow- 
shanks, 7’. melanoleucus, round a lake near Carberry; they were 
clearly on migration, as they were the first of their kind seen. 
