﻿SHARP-TAILED 
  GROUSE. 
  21 
  

  

  light 
  colored 
  and 
  deliciously 
  flavored. 
  After 
  the 
  birds 
  begin 
  to 
  pack 
  

   they 
  afford 
  little 
  sport 
  to 
  the 
  hunter. 
  

  

  The 
  sharp-tailed 
  grouse 
  are 
  partly 
  migratory. 
  In 
  winter 
  they 
  

   take 
  refuge 
  in 
  the 
  highest 
  trees, 
  walking 
  among 
  the 
  branches 
  almost 
  

   as 
  nimbly 
  as 
  the 
  ruffed 
  grouse. 
  Like 
  the 
  latter, 
  the 
  present 
  species 
  

   has 
  a 
  habit 
  of 
  plunging 
  into 
  the 
  snow 
  to 
  spend 
  the 
  wintry 
  night. 
  

   It 
  has 
  many 
  natural 
  enemies 
  in 
  the 
  winter,*and 
  in 
  summer 
  the 
  golden 
  

   eagle 
  has 
  been 
  known 
  to 
  feed 
  its 
  young 
  very 
  largely 
  upon 
  its 
  flesh. 
  

   Its 
  struggle 
  for 
  existence 
  is 
  unusually 
  severe. 
  Wherever 
  it 
  abounds, 
  

   in 
  accessible 
  districts, 
  it 
  is 
  pursued 
  relentlessly 
  by 
  the 
  sportsman 
  ; 
  but 
  

   where 
  diminished 
  to 
  a 
  certain 
  point, 
  as 
  on 
  its 
  western 
  and 
  northern 
  

   ranges, 
  hunting 
  it 
  is 
  largely 
  abandoned. 
  Probably 
  some 
  decades 
  

   will 
  pass, 
  therefore, 
  before 
  it 
  will 
  be 
  in 
  danger 
  of 
  total 
  extinction. 
  

   As 
  it 
  does 
  not 
  readily 
  accept 
  civilization, 
  it 
  is 
  not 
  likely 
  to 
  become 
  a 
  

   popular 
  bird 
  in 
  our 
  growing 
  game 
  preserves, 
  which 
  each 
  year 
  become 
  

   of 
  greater 
  economic 
  importance. 
  

  

  FOOD 
  HABITS. 
  

  

  The 
  food 
  habits 
  of 
  the 
  sharp-tailed 
  grouse 
  have 
  been 
  studied 
  in 
  

   connection 
  with 
  the 
  present 
  paper 
  by 
  the 
  examination 
  of 
  43 
  stomachs. 
  

   These 
  were 
  collected 
  in 
  every 
  month 
  of 
  the 
  year 
  except 
  January 
  and 
  

   March 
  ; 
  most 
  of 
  them 
  in 
  Nebraska 
  and 
  the 
  Xorthwest 
  Territories, 
  but 
  

   some 
  in 
  Minnesota, 
  Xorth 
  Dakota, 
  and 
  Manitoba. 
  The 
  investigations 
  

   showed 
  that 
  animal 
  matter 
  (insects) 
  formed 
  only 
  10.19 
  per 
  cent 
  of 
  

   the 
  food, 
  while 
  vegetable 
  matter 
  (seeds, 
  fruit, 
  and 
  i 
  browse 
  ') 
  made 
  

   89.81 
  percent. 
  If 
  subsequent 
  study 
  proves 
  that 
  these 
  figures 
  apply 
  

   generally 
  to 
  the 
  species, 
  the 
  sharp-tailed 
  grouse 
  is 
  to 
  be 
  classed 
  among 
  

   the 
  birds 
  most 
  largely 
  vegetarian. 
  

  

  INSECT 
  FOOD. 
  

  

  The 
  insect 
  matter 
  consists 
  of 
  bugs, 
  0.50 
  percent; 
  grasshoppers, 
  

   4.62 
  percent; 
  beetles, 
  2.86 
  percent, 
  and 
  miscellaneous 
  insects, 
  2.21 
  

   percent 
  in 
  a 
  total 
  of 
  10.19 
  percent 
  of 
  the 
  food. 
  Vernon 
  Bailey, 
  of 
  

   the 
  Biological 
  Survey, 
  found 
  that 
  three 
  birds 
  shot 
  by 
  him 
  in 
  Idaho 
  

   August 
  29 
  had 
  eaten 
  chiefly 
  insects, 
  including 
  grasshoppers, 
  small 
  

   bugs, 
  and 
  small 
  caterpillars. 
  Baird, 
  Brewer, 
  and 
  Eidgway 
  state 
  

   that 
  the 
  Columbian 
  sharp-tailed 
  grouse 
  has 
  been 
  known 
  to 
  feed 
  on 
  

   caterpillars 
  and 
  other 
  insects 
  that 
  have 
  been 
  scorched 
  by 
  prairie 
  

   fires." 
  

  

  The 
  young 
  of 
  the 
  sharp-tailed 
  grouse, 
  like 
  those 
  of 
  other 
  gallina- 
  

   ceous 
  species, 
  are 
  highly 
  insectivorous. 
  A 
  downy 
  chick 
  from 
  1 
  to 
  3 
  

   days 
  old, 
  collected 
  on 
  June 
  27, 
  in 
  Manitoba, 
  by 
  Ernest 
  Thompson 
  

   Seton, 
  had 
  eaten 
  95 
  percent 
  of 
  insects 
  and 
  5 
  percent 
  of 
  wild 
  straw- 
  

  

  a 
  Hist. 
  N. 
  A. 
  Birds, 
  Land 
  Birds, 
  III, 
  p. 
  439, 
  1874. 
  

  

  