Bob Whites, Grouse, etc. 



pack, the eyes, turned in all directions at once, on the perpet- 

 ual lookout, it is a skilled sportsman who can steal a march on 

 them before they run swiftly away and finally take to wing to flap 

 and sail far, far beyond reach of his gun. When cold blasts, high 

 winds, and deep snow drive these prairie lovers into timbered 

 lands and sheltered ravines, a covey spends much time roosting 

 in trees and walking along the branches, where the sharp-tails' 

 nature apparently undergoes a change; for it is said they are 

 almost stupidly unsuspicious now, and will sit still and look on 

 at the destruction of their companions. Odd that they should 

 shun man and his habitations ! A partial migration of females to 

 warmer, or at least more sheltered winter quarters, doubtless 

 accounts for the variation of the species. 



The Columbian Sharp-tailed Grouse {Pedioccetes phasianellus 

 campestris), also called by the various popular names by which 

 the prairie sharp-tail is known since few see any difference be- 

 tween the two varieties, has its upper parts more grayish instead 

 of yellowish buff, possibly with less conspicuous white spots on 

 its wings and shoulders, and its whitish under parts, including 

 flanks, marked with black U or V shaped lines. In habits there 

 appears to be little or no difference between this variety and its 

 prototypes ; therefore the account of the prairie sharp-tail need 

 not be repeated. As its name implies, the region about the Co- 

 lumbia River is this grouse's chosen habitat; but the northwest- 

 ern part of the United States, including northeastern California, 

 northern Nevada, and Utah, Montana, Wyoming, Oregon, Wash- 

 ington, and from west of the Rocky Mountains northward 

 through British Columbia to central Alaska, is the area over 

 which it is distributed. As man, whom it shuns (unlike the 

 pinnated grouse), appears on its territory, it recedes before him 

 into wilder, remote districts, until plains where coveys were 

 abundant only five years ago now know them no more. 



The Sharp-tailed Grouse {Pedioccetes phasianellus), a bird 

 that never shows its dark, rich plumage within the United States, 

 ho\\ever commonly the paler, yellower prairie, and the grayer 

 Columbian varieties of this handsome grouse are called by its 

 name, ranges over the interior of British America to Fort Simp- 

 son, and is comparatively little known. Reversing the usual rule, 



284 



