﻿22 
  GROUSE 
  AND 
  WILD 
  TUKKEYS 
  OF 
  UNITED 
  STATES. 
  

  

  berries. 
  The 
  insect 
  material 
  consisted 
  of 
  a 
  lepidopterous 
  chrysalis 
  

   and 
  the 
  remains 
  of 
  beetles 
  and 
  black 
  ants 
  (Camponotus 
  pennsyl- 
  

   vanicus). 
  Another 
  young 
  bird, 
  about 
  8 
  days 
  old, 
  taken 
  by 
  the 
  same 
  

   collector, 
  had 
  been 
  exclusively 
  insectivorous. 
  It 
  had 
  eaten 
  such 
  

   beetles 
  as 
  weevils, 
  ground 
  beetles 
  {Harpalus 
  herbivagus) 
  , 
  the 
  lady- 
  

   bird 
  {Anisosticta 
  seriata), 
  and 
  the 
  click 
  beetle 
  (Dolopius 
  lateralis), 
  

   also 
  2 
  cutworms, 
  9 
  sawfly 
  larvae, 
  such 
  leaf 
  hoppers 
  as 
  Tettegonia 
  sp. 
  

   and 
  Helochara 
  communis, 
  and 
  1 
  leaf 
  spider. 
  The 
  sharp-tailed 
  grouse 
  

   is 
  fond 
  of 
  grasshoppers. 
  Vernon 
  Bailey 
  shot 
  3 
  birds 
  at 
  Elk 
  River, 
  

   Minn., 
  September 
  17, 
  1894, 
  which 
  had 
  eaten, 
  respectively, 
  7, 
  23, 
  and 
  

   31 
  grasshoppers. 
  The 
  species 
  is 
  a 
  destroyer 
  also 
  of 
  the 
  Rocky 
  Moun- 
  

   tain 
  locust. 
  Of 
  9 
  birds 
  collected 
  by 
  Professor 
  Aughey 
  from 
  May 
  to 
  

   October, 
  inclusive, 
  6 
  had 
  eaten 
  174 
  of 
  these 
  pests. 
  a 
  The 
  bird 
  eats 
  

   also 
  a 
  few 
  crickets 
  and, 
  like 
  other 
  gallinaceous 
  game 
  birds, 
  devours 
  

   the 
  Colorado 
  potato 
  beetle 
  {Leptinotarsa 
  decemlineata) 
  . 
  It 
  has 
  been 
  

   known 
  to 
  feed 
  on 
  the 
  bugs 
  Oncometopia 
  lateralis 
  and 
  Oncometojna, 
  

   costalis. 
  The 
  lack 
  of 
  sufficient 
  material 
  to 
  determine 
  exactly 
  the 
  

   bird's 
  relation 
  to 
  insects 
  is 
  to 
  be 
  regretted, 
  but 
  enough 
  is 
  at 
  hand 
  to 
  

   demonstrate 
  the 
  fact 
  that 
  its 
  insect 
  food 
  is 
  much 
  like 
  that 
  of 
  its 
  

   relatives. 
  

  

  VEGETABLE 
  FOOD. 
  

  

  The 
  vegetable 
  food 
  of 
  the 
  sharp-tailed 
  grouse, 
  so 
  far 
  as 
  ascertained 
  

   in 
  the 
  laboratory, 
  comprises 
  weed 
  seeds, 
  7.39 
  percent; 
  grain, 
  20.50 
  

   percent 
  ; 
  fruit, 
  27.68 
  percent 
  ; 
  leaves, 
  buds, 
  and 
  flowers, 
  31.07 
  percent, 
  

   and 
  miscellaneous 
  vegetable 
  food, 
  3.06 
  percent; 
  making 
  a 
  total 
  of 
  

   89.81 
  percent. 
  The 
  weed-seed 
  element 
  consists 
  of 
  the 
  seeds 
  of 
  black 
  

   bindweed 
  {Polygonum 
  convolvulus) 
  and 
  other 
  polygonums, 
  wild 
  

   sunflower 
  (Helianthus 
  sp.), 
  ragweed 
  {Ambrosia 
  artemisice 
  folia), 
  

   peppergrass 
  (Lepidiam) 
  , 
  blue-eyed 
  grass, 
  sedge, 
  and 
  catchfly 
  (Silene 
  

   antirrhina). 
  The 
  seeds 
  of 
  a 
  number 
  of 
  leguminous 
  plants 
  are 
  eaten, 
  

   including 
  those 
  of 
  alfalfa. 
  Like 
  many 
  other 
  game 
  birds, 
  the 
  species 
  

   feeds 
  on 
  mast 
  (largely 
  acorns), 
  including 
  acorns 
  of 
  the 
  scarlet 
  oak 
  

   (Quercus 
  coccinea). 
  Corn 
  is 
  eaten, 
  but 
  wheat 
  is 
  'the 
  favorite 
  grain. 
  

   It 
  formed 
  17.21 
  percent 
  of 
  the 
  food. 
  A 
  thousand 
  kernels 
  of 
  wheat 
  

   were 
  sometimes 
  found 
  in 
  one 
  stomach. 
  

  

  The 
  sharp-tailed 
  grouse 
  is 
  a 
  great 
  browser. 
  It 
  makes 
  31.07 
  percent 
  

   of 
  its 
  food 
  of 
  leaves, 
  buds, 
  and 
  flowers. 
  Ernest 
  Thompson 
  Seton 
  

   found 
  it 
  eating 
  the 
  buds 
  of 
  willow 
  and 
  birch. 
  It 
  feeds 
  on 
  the 
  leaves 
  

   of 
  cottonwood, 
  alder, 
  blueberry, 
  juniper, 
  and 
  larch; 
  also 
  leaves 
  of 
  

   quillwort 
  (Isoetes), 
  vetch, 
  dandelion, 
  grass, 
  and 
  rush 
  (Juncus). 
  

   Hearne 
  says 
  that 
  in 
  winter 
  it 
  eats 
  the 
  tops 
  of 
  the 
  dwarf 
  birch 
  and 
  the 
  

   buds 
  of 
  poplars. 
  Flowers 
  form 
  19.90 
  percent 
  of 
  its 
  diet, 
  the 
  species 
  

  

  a 
  First 
  Rep. 
  U. 
  S. 
  Entom. 
  Coram., 
  Append. 
  II, 
  p. 
  47, 
  1877 
  (1878). 
  

  

  