Dance of the Prairie Chicken. 209 



IV. Dance of the Prairie Chicken. 



By Chas. N. Bell, Winnipeg. 



At sunset on the evening of May 10th, 1873, near Saddle Lake 

 (Saw-gi-ah-gim Aspapowin), which is twelve miles north of 

 Upper or North Saskatchewan River, and ninety miles north-west 

 of Fort Pitt, or in latitude 54° N. by longitude 1 11.40° W., 1 first 

 had the good fortune to witness that most amusing dance indulged 

 in during the spring season by the Prairie Chickens, when courting 

 preparatory to mating for the summer. The Prairie Chicken, or 

 Sharp-tailed Grouse (Pedioccetes phasianellus)* , the Pheasant of 

 the Hudson's Bay Company residents, is called in the Cree, as 

 well as in the Saulteau or Chippeway language, akishow or aw- 

 Jciscow, — the Crees also using an alternative name for it, pehayo. 



I had been without any food worth speaking of for some forty- 

 eight hours, and was roaming about amongst the ponds and hills in 

 search of game, feeling fairly used up with fatigue and hunger, 

 when I heard a most peculiar sound, apparently coming from a 

 great distance and resembling somewhat the murmur of many 

 voices. At once taking cover in the willow brush, which grew in 

 long patches in a depression between two rolls of the prairie, I 

 quietly pushed forward in the direction from which the sound 

 came. Every few yards I stopped to listen, thoroughly puzzled 

 as to the cause of the extraordinary bursts of noise succeeded by 

 perfect silence. Could it be Indians? A few Crees had passed my 

 log wintering hut daring the past week, and some of these might 

 here be discussing a plan to rob the moneass (" stranger," or 

 literally, "greenhorn ") who was living alone forty miles from the 

 nearest settlement. 



I determined to find out what it all meant, so keeping my double- 

 barrelled muzzle-loader in readiness, I dropped down on all- 

 fours and quietly crept forward. For a few minutes all was 

 very still and quiet, when suddenly, from a spot but a few 

 yards a head, where I could see that there was an open space, 



* The Prairie Chicken is a term applied to two different species of 

 grouse — the Pinnated grouse or the Tetrao cupido of naturalists, and 

 the Pintail or Sharp-tailed grouse of the text. In 1870, the Pintail 

 only was to be found in the Northwest; but the Pinnated grouse ad- 

 vances with civilisation, replacing the Pintail. 



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