SHARP-TAILED GROUSE 267 
them; and often, going away after such want of suc- 
cess, one may look back to find the heads of the whole 
lot raised above the grass, intently regarding his re- 
treat. It is astonishing how closely they can squat— 
even laying the head flat upon the ground, and appear- 
ing scarcely half their natural size. At this season 
their food appears to be chiefly grasshoppers. I have 
opened numbers to find their crops crammed with these 
insects, only varied with a few flowers, weed-tops, 
succulent leaves, and an occasional beetle or spider. 
“By the first of October the sharp-tailed grouse have 
mostly finished the renewal of their plumage, are all 
full grown and strong of wing; their habits are con- 
siderably modified. They grow wary and watchful, 
flushing often at long distances to fly clear ont of 
sight, and running far on the ground. They also be- 
gin to alight on trees, a habit, however, not confirmed 
until somewhat later, when, with the advance of cold 
weather and the failure of former supplies of food, they 
assume the routine of their winter life. The close 
coveys of the earlier season are for the most part broken 
up, and the birds wander often alone in search of food. 
They haunt the interminable ravines along the Mis- 
souri, making away from the river bottoms in search 
of food, but mostly returning at evening to roost in 
the trees. Early in the morning they may be seen 
leaving their perches in straggling troops, flying high 
and swiftly to other feeding grounds; and again in 
the evening, if one loiter beneath the immense cotton- 
woods, where, during the day, scarcely a chicken was 
