38 



THE 00L06I8T 



NOTES ON THE SHARP-TAILED 

 GROUSE 



Though the Sharp-tailed Grouse is 

 one of our best known Alberta birds, 

 it was not until the present season 

 1920 that I had the pleasure of ex- 

 amining two nests of this fine game 

 bird. This season the birds are more 

 numerous than they have been for 

 many years, and I have heard of sev- 

 eral other nests being found in the 

 neighborhood. 



The Ruffed Grouse is also very 

 plentiful. 



After a season or two of great 

 abunda'nce, the Sharp-tails disappear 

 excepting a few birds, and probably 

 migrate to other parts of their range. 



This bird is the Prairie Chicken of 

 Alberta, commonly known as 

 "Chicken" and the Ruffed Grouse as 

 "Partridge" to sportsmen. 



The Cree name of this Grouse is 

 Pee-hue and this seems to have been 

 extended to include the Ruffed Grouse. 

 This name is simply the call note of 

 the birds, a clear musical whistle, 

 used principally when the flock gets 

 separated in the long grass and brush. 

 They also have a number of other 

 notes, rattling and guttural croaks, 

 used chiefly on clear frosty mornings, 

 and on their dancing grounds. These 

 dancing grounds are usually situated 

 on top of a liill or knoll with short 

 grass growth. Here they wear a net- 

 work of little paths resembling rabbit 

 runways where they perform the 

 antics known as dancing in the spring 

 mornings and evenings. And here 

 also their enemies take toll. Hawks 

 killing many and Indians and half- 

 breeds more. 



Their metliod is to bend a willow in- 

 to the shape of a croquet hoop and 

 stick the two ends into the ground, 

 forming an arch over the path and at- 

 tacking a hanging snare to the center 

 of the arch. Most dancing grounds 



close to a trail were decorated with 

 these yellow croquet hoops when I 

 first came to the country twenty-two 

 years ago, but now are seldom seen. 



The birds appear rather stupid on 

 the dancing ground and will remain 

 there after a hawk has captured one 

 of their number and devours it a short 

 distance a'way. 



The Sharp-tailed Grouse is a plump, 

 compact bird and my wife described 

 them rather aptly on a recent motor 

 trip when we were continually flush- 

 ing them along the road by remarking 

 "There goes another fatty." They fly 

 straight away when flushed and make 

 an easy wing shot. Wlien well start- 

 ed their flight is slightly undulating 

 and consists of a succession of rapid 

 wing strokes and sails. They like to 

 perch in the tops of the populars when 

 the leaves have fallen on frosty fall 

 mornings, and many are picked off 

 with 22 rifles. 



They are fond of grain, wheat pre- 

 ferred, also different kinds of wild 

 berries, and I have found their crops 

 full of grasshoppers well on into win- 

 ter when the ground has been free 

 from snow and it would be almost im- 

 possible for a human to find a single 

 grasshopper. They also feed in the 

 birches in winter and I have often 

 seen small birches literally full of 

 them. 



The first nest examined by me on 

 June 2nd contained fifteen eggs, and 

 was located in a patch of wild roses 

 on a hillside. The nest wa's a hollow 

 in the ground, lined with dry grass 

 and a few feathers, at foot of rose 

 bushes. This is the nest in the photo- 

 graph. The second nest visited on 

 June 9th was similar, a hollow in the 

 ground at foot of a rose bush, lined 

 with dry grass and a few feathers, sit- 

 uated in burnt off timber. This nest 

 contained thirteen eggs. 



A. D. Henderson, 

 Belvedere, Alberta. 



