GALLINACEOUS BIRDS 
Pale buff 
307. Lesser Prairie Chicken, 
T ympanuchus pallidicinctus . 
Range. — Prairies from southwestern Kansas 
through Indian Territory to western Texas. 
A smaller and paler species than the Prairie 
Chicken. Never as abundant as the common Pin- 
nated Grouse, this species appears to be becoming 
scarcer each year. Its nests are concealed under 
overhanging brush or placed under a large tuft of 
prairie grass, and are generally lined with a few 
grasses or leaves. They lay from eight to twelve 
eggs of a buffy color, much lighter than those of 
the Prairie Chicken, and unmarked. Size 1.65 x 
1.25. 
308. Sharp-tailed Grouse. 
Pedioecetes pliasianellus phasianellus. 
Range. — Interior of British America, from 
the United States boundary northwest to the 
Yukon. 
Sharp-tailed Grouse are similar in form to 
Buffy drab 
the Prairie Chicken, but are somewhat smaller . 
and very much lighter in color, being nearly Prairie Sharp-tailed Grouse 
white below, with arrowhead markings on the 
breast and flanks. This species is very abundant in Manitoba and especially so 
on the plains west of Hudson Bay. Their nests are generally concealed under 
a thicket or a large tuft of grass, and are lined with grasses and feathers. 
They lay from six to fifteen eggs of a drab color, very minutely specked all over 
with brown. Size 1.70 x 1.25. 
308a. Columbian Sharp-tailed Grouse. Pedioecetes phasianellus col- 
umhianus. 
Range. — Northwestern United States and British Columbia to central Alaska. 
Both the nesting habits and eggs of this variety are the same as the last, with 
which species, the birds gradually intergrade as their ranges approach. 
308b. Prairie Sharp-tailed Grouse. Pedioecetes phasianellus carnpes - 
tris. 
Range. — Plains of the United States from the Mississippi to the Rockies. 
This sub-species shades directly into the two preceding where their ranges meet, 
and only birds from the extreme parts of the range of each show any marked 
differences. The nesting habits and eggs of all three are not to be distin- 
guished. 
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