82 AMERICAN GAME BIRD SHOOTING. 
beneath, variegated transversely above with zigzag spots 
of yellowish-brown; the head and neck are a deep buff; 
the throat is thickly spotted with dusk; and a V of the 
same hue is prominent on the breast. The tarsi are 
densely feathered, and the two long tail-feathers, which 
have given it the general name of sharp-tail, are very con- 
spicuous. It derives its local name of spotted chicken 
from its numerous markings. It is about the size of the 
pinnated grouse, and its flesh is tender and well-flavored. 
The more southern variety associates freely with its 
prairie congener, and both seem to get along well to- 
gether. During the winter the two species keep apart, 
however, for the sharp-tails burrow in the loose snow, 
if necessary, and work their way rapidly through it, 
and this the prairie-fowls cannot, or will not do, so far 
as my experience goes. 
One of the most striking characteristics of the sharp- 
tails is their love of dancing, and the enthusiasm they 
display while engaged in it. None of the feathered crea- 
tion can at all compete with them in the saltatorial art; 
they may therefore be acknowledged the champion terp- 
sichoreans of the avi-fauna. They have also a decided 
advantage over all other lovers of the light, fantastic toe, 
and that is, that they can dance to their own music, and 
that it makes little difference to them whether the weather 
is wet or fine. Dancing is as much a ceremony of love 
with them as it is a religious rite with the Indians, and no 
true sharp-tail cock would think of choosing a mate with- 
out first showing her how gracefully he can glide through 
a grouse waltz, or with what a stately mien he can bear 
himself before his companions. No gallant would, in 
fact, think himself fit to wed unless he proved to his 
spouse that he was in every way capable of setting up as 
a dancing master, and a model to his prospective family. 
The terpsichorean evolutions of the sharp-tails com- 
mence in spring, when the males are ready to become 
