THE GAME BREEDER 



121 



have records of places where thousands 

 of grouse have been shot every season 

 on the moors of Scotland since the birds 

 have been properly looked after and it 

 is well known that the grouse do not in- 

 terfere with the sheep industry which 

 was carried on when grouse protection 

 was undertaken. Many moors now 

 vield an annual rental from the grouse 

 alone, which is larger in amount than 

 the lands sold for before the grouse in- 

 dustry was begun. 



In another paper I shall describe in 

 detail the simple and inexpensive meth- 

 ods which should be used to make the 

 grouse abundant and profitable on the 

 western farms, listing all the foods of 

 the grouse, many of which should be 

 planted in places where grouse breed- 

 ing is undertaken. 



We have been asked about the differ- 

 ence between the common prairie grouse 

 and the lesser prairie hen. The differ- 

 ence would seem to be similar to that 

 between the common Bob White of the 

 northern states and the smaller species, 

 known as the Texan Bob White, which 

 is abundant in the land where the lesser 

 prairie hen occurs. 



Elliot gives the range of the smaller 

 grouse as "Western Texas, through In- 

 dian Territory to Kansas." He de- 

 scribes the lesser prairie hen as a small- 

 er, pale-colored variety of the pinnated 

 grouse and adds, it would not probably 

 be regarded as in any way different 

 from the pinnated grouse by one who 



was not an ornithologist and trained to 

 observe technical or slight distinctions 

 between animals. It is somewhat dif- 

 ferent in coloring and appears smaller, 

 though measurements seem to show 

 that the size of the two birds is pretty- 

 nearly equal. In certain parts of Tex- 

 as, such as the districts lying to the 

 south and southeast of San Antonio, 

 this race is very abundant, and is also 

 found, but in more limited numbers, 

 north of that city (1897). It is also 

 common in the Indian Territory. Its 

 most southern range in Texas appears 

 to be just north of Fort Brown, near 

 the coast. The eggs are somewhat 

 smaller than those of the northern 

 prairie chicken, and paler in color, 

 being a creamy or buffy white, covered 

 with very fine grayish or brownish dots ; 

 sometimes the shell is entirely unspot- 

 ted. The habits and nesting of this race 

 are practically not different from those 

 of the common prairie grouse. 



Atwater's Prairie Hen. < 



Elliot says this bird appears to be re- 

 stricted to the coast line of Louisiana 

 and Texas. It differs from the other 

 species of the genus in having the tar- 

 sus feathered only on the upper two- 

 thirds, and a suffusion of cinnamon 

 rufons on the tufts of long feathers in 

 the neck, which are almost square at 

 their tips, forming almost a collar in 

 front at base of neck. In size it is 

 about the same as the Lesser Prairie 

 Hen. 



THE PRONG-HORNED ANTELOPE. 



By Harold C. Bryant. 



The prong-horned antelope was once Sacramento valleys and until 1880 were 



one of the commonest game mammals 

 found in California. At the present 

 time only a very few are left in the state. 

 Most of these are to be found in four 

 counties — Modoc, Lassen, Mono and 

 western Fresno. Before gold was dis- 

 covered in California they were exceed- 



to be found in northern Los Angeles 

 County and Riverside County. 



The antelope has no near relatives in 

 the United States. It is both goatlike 

 and deerlike. It has hollow horns with 

 boney cores and scent glands like the 

 goat. In its coat of hair with under- 



ingly abundant in the San Joaquin and coat of wool and its habit of shedding 



