CHAPTER ITI. 
THE SHARP-TAILED GROUSE. 
Varieties of the Sharp-tailed Grouse—Appearance and color—Associates 
with prairie fowl—Great dancers—Ball-rooms—Opening of the 
dancing season—Grotesque evolutions—The nest and eggs— 
Faithful mothers—Tbhe young—How the mother protects them— 
Packing in winter—They lie well to dogs—Their habits when 
flushed—Roost in trees—Winter shooting—Where to seek for 
them—Their numbers and enemies—Unsuspicious early in the 
season—A day among the Sharp-tails in Idaho—The stubble-fields 
—The first volley—I am made a Jehu—An Indian hunting party— 
Good shots—Difference between war and hunting arrows— Dusky 
anglers—Spearing trout—How to cook fish—Dogs with “strong 
medicine ’’—An extraordinary shot with an arrow—Result of a 
day’s sporting—Two thousand birds killed by six men in six weeks 
—Twelve brace in two hours—Difficulty of finding Sharp-tails 
without dogs—Best time for shooting them, 
There are two varieties of the Sharp-tailed Grouse in 
the Northwest, but the difference between them is not 
very strongly marked. The more northern of the two 
(Pediocetes var. phasianellus) ranges from Lake Superior 
to the Arctic regions, and west as far as Alaska. This 
is blackish above, variegated with brownish-yellow; the 
scapulars have broad streaks of white; the markings be- 
neath are dusky; the head and neck and the ground 
color are white; the throat has dusky spots; and the 
toes are as completely feathered as those of the ptarmi- 
gans. Pediocetes var. columbianus, whose habitat extends 
from Illinois on the east to the Cascade Range on the 
west, is paler than the preceding, and its legs and toes 
are less densely feathered, owing to the milder climate of 
the region in which it dwells. This variety is known as 
the spotted chicken, the white-belly, pin-tail, sprig-tail, 
and sharp-tail grouse in different localities. Its prevail- 
ing colors are a clear dusky-black above, and a pure white 
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