76 BIRDS OF SOUTH DAKOTA 



Grouse, measuring in length from eighteen to twenty inches. 

 The back of the male is dark slate mixed with brown and gray; 

 below it is light slate. The tail is dark slate fully barred on the 

 back. Like all true Grouse it is feathered on the legs, but not 

 so persistently as the Sharp-tailed Grouse. The Dusky Grouse is 

 a bird of the mountains, usually found in the evergreen zone. 

 It feeds on berries and insects. 



300b. Gray Ruffed Grouse (Bonasa umbellus umbelloides.) 



An annual resident and rather abundant in the Black 

 Hills. This is the Partridge or Pheasant of wooded areas east of 

 Minnesota and the Mississippi River, except that its general 

 color is grayish instead of mixed rusty brown. About seventeen 

 inches long; head slightly crested with gray; body gray, mixed 

 with rufous and black ; tail mixed gray with a wide slate colored 

 band near the tip. Both male and female have back neck tufts, 

 hence the name. 



The male produces his drumming sound by rapidly beat- 

 ing his wings, usually while perched on a log. They are fre- 

 quently found in deep woods feeding on berries, buds and insects. 



305. Prairie Chicken (Tympanuchus americanus americanus.) 



The male is eighteen inches in length; female slightly 

 smaller ; alike in color ; irregularly barred with black and rufous, 

 with some white on wings and tail; under parts barred with 

 white, dark brown and buff ; front and side of legs covered with 

 short, downy feathers; head slightly crested. On the sides of 

 the neck there are tufts of feathers, which, when extended, re- 

 semble small wings. These tufts cover a yellow, bare sac that 

 is capable of being expanded by the male to the size of a small 

 lemon. The function of this inflated sac is perhaps not definitely 

 known but it is thought to connect by a canal with the windpipe 

 and thus assist in producing that "booming" sound which is so 

 often heard, especially during the early spring. 



Their nesting place is usually in meadows, but an un- 

 plowed strip of wild hay land is sometimes preferred. 



A closed hunting season for a few years, and the creating 

 of public sentiment for law enforcement, are much needed to in- 

 crease Prairie Chickens in sufficient numbers to make them of 

 economic importance, either as game birds or insect destroyers. 



