GROUSE. PTARMIGAN 



(308) Pedioecetes phasianellus 

 phasianeilus 



(Linn.) (Gr., a plain inhabitant; Lat., 

 a small pheasant). 



SHARP-TAILED GROUSE; PIN- 

 TAIL GROUSE. Legs and feet 

 feathered to the bases of the toes. 

 A slight crest, but no ruffs or pin- 

 nates. Shghtly larger and consider- 

 ably darker colored than the next. 



Range — From Ungava west to 

 Alaska. 

 (308b) P. p. campestris Ridg- 



way. (Lat., relating to a plain). 

 (Lat.. relating to a plain). 



PRAIRIE SHARP -TAILED 

 GROUSE. Plumage as shown. Cen- 

 tral tail feathers elongated. L., 

 19.00; W., 8.50; T., 1.50 (outer) 

 to 6.00 (middle). 



Range — Southern Man. and Al- 

 berta south to 111., Kan. and Wyo. 



about with orange sacs puffed out and pinnates elevated so 

 that the head is concealed, tail erect and fan-shaped, and 

 wings trailing on the ground. As they dance about, at 

 frequent intervals will come rumbling, booming noises as 

 some of the sacs are deflated. After the strutting exhi- 

 bition they engage in general conflict, two or more birds 

 usually contending for the favor of each hen, until one of 

 the warriors is vanquished. 



HEATH HENS differ from the western chickens in plum- 

 age only in having fewer-feathered, pointed instead of square- 

 ended pinnates, larger spots on the scapulars, and a browner 

 crown. It is the most locally distributed bird that we have, 

 now being confined to the one island of Martha's Vineyard, 

 Mass. Here it frequents the scrubby oaks that cover 

 parts of the interior. 



PRAIRIE SHARP-TAILED GROUSE are also abundant 

 on the plains and prairies of interior United States and 

 Canada, but their range is rather to the westward of that of 

 the Prairie Chickens, for the reason that while the latter 



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