22 GROUSE AND WILD TURKEYS OF UNITED STATES. 
IxTrii's. Tlu' instH't material consistcHl of a lepidopterous chrvsalis 
and the remains of beetles and black ants {Camponotii^ pennsyl- 
nntictis). Another younof l)ird. about S days old, taken by the same 
collector, had been exclusively insectivorous. It had eaten such 
beetles as weevils, ground beetles {Ilarpalus herhivagus)^ the lady- 
bird (Anisosflrtd so'idfd). and the click beetle (Dolopius latcmlis)^ 
also 2 cutworms, 9 sawfly larvie, such leaf hoppers as Tettegon'ui sp. 
and Ilelochara communis^ and 1 leaf spider. The sharp-tailed grouse 
is fond of grasshoppers. Vernon Bailey shot 3 birds at Elk River. 
Minn., September IT, 1894, which had eaten, respectively, 7, 23. and 
81 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. had eaten 174 of these pests." The bird eats 
also a few crickets and. like othfer gallinaceous game birds, devours 
the Colorado potato beetle {Leptinotarm defemlineata). It has been 
known to feed on the bugs Oncometopia hfteralis and Oiwomeiopla 
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. 
VEGETAHLE FOOD. 
The vegetable food of the sharp-tailed grouse, so far as ascertained 
in the laboratory, comprises weed seeds, 7.89 percent ; grain, 20.50 
percent ; fruit, 27.08 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 {Polygonurn conrolndffs) and other polygonums, wild 
sunflower {Helianthus sp.), ragweed {Ambrosia artemisio'foria) ^ 
peppergrass {Le pi(linm) . blue-eyed grass, sedge, and catchfly (Silcne 
((hfinhiiKi). The seeds of a number of leguminous })lants are eaten, 
including those of alfalfa. Like many other game birds, the species 
feeds on mast (largely acorns), including acorns of the scarlet oak 
{Querent rorri/icff). 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 
({uillwort (Isoetes), vetch, dandelion, grass, and rush (Jioicus). 
Ilearne says that in winter it eats the t()])s of the dwarf birch and the 
buds of poplars. Flowers form 19.90 percent of its diet, the species 
o First Rep. U. S. Entom. Coniin.. Append. II, p. 47, 1877 (1878). 
