CHAPTER XIV. 
GROUSE. 
THERE are supposed to be upward of twenty species of 
grouse upon the continent of North America. However, 
they have never been strictly classified, so I will confine my 
remarks to those best known, commencing with the pin- 
nated grouse, prairie-chicken, or prairie-hen, for by all these 
names this noble bird is recognized in different localities. 
During my sojourn across the Atlantic I recognized three 
distinctly marked varieties of this species—two only differ- 
ing in color of plumage and size; the third having a tail 
longer by some inches than its con/‘réres, and terminating in 
a point. This last has its habitat in higher latitude than 
the others, being found in the greatest abundance on the 
plains that surround the Saskatchewan River, while the 
former are common to all the prairie country of the States 
of Indiana, Illinois, lowa, Minnesota, and Michigan, even as 
far south as Texas. The flight of all is swift, powerful, . 
and prolonged, so that late in autumn, when the young 
birds have reached maturity, a mile or even more distance 
will be traversed from the place where they are flushed till 
they think proper to alight. On the contrary, early in the 
shooting season, they will lay with such persistency that 
many efforts of both dog and sportsman will be required 
before they can be induced to take wing. Their pursuit is 
followed in the same manner as that of red grouse upon 
Scotch moors, for their time of watering, dusting, and feed- 
ing are almost identical. At the commencement of the 
shooting season (which I believe is now on the Ist of Sep- 
9 
