GROUSE 
m 
ritual. The male has, under the stiff plumes, large inflatable sacs on 
each side of the neck, coloured bright orange and capable of enormous 
distention, swelling out like a small orange on either side of the throat. 
With these inflated, the stiff plumes over them spread finger-wise upwards 
and outwards, and the tail opened over the back, the bird struts and utters 
a succession of low, intense, hollow sounds that can be heard for miles. 
All spring and early summer this dull, reverberating sound can be heard 
near its haunts, filling the air with a heavy throb, but difficult of location as 
to direction or distance. The species is a good strong ftyer, lies well to a 
dog, and is wary enough to satisfy exacting sportsmen. 
Figure 280 
Feet of 
Prairie Chicken in winter. Sharp-Tailed Grouse in winter. 
Scale, } 
308. Sharp-tailed Grouse. (Incorrectly prairie chicken.) la gelinotte a queue 
fine. Pedioecetes phasianellus. L, 17 -50. Plate XIX A. A large grouse palely coloured 
in browns, ochre, and white, with many sharp, dark V-marks on breast and flanks and 
with a soft, pointed, almost white tail. No particular neck ornaments or plumes. 
Distinctions. The general lightness of colour, short, sharp tail, and distinct V -marks 
on breast are too characteristic to be confused with any other bird. Most like the true 
Prairie Chicken, the Pinnated Grouse, or Square-tail. The nearly white tail with upper 
coverts lengthened, projecting, and brought to a fine taper produce the effect of a sharply 
pointed tail; tins, the profusion of sharp V-marks on breast and flanks, and the absence 
of any specially developed feather groups on the side of the neck are absolute distinctions 
from the dark, round tail, heavily barred breast, and stiff feather-neck ornaments of the 
Prairie Chicken proper. Tarsus feathered to between the toes (Figure 230). 
Field Marks. A light-coloured grouse, sharp-tailed; very light below, with many 
dark V-marks on breast and flanks and no special neck plumes or ornaments. 
Distribution. The more open spots in the spruce woods across the continent. In 
Ontario and western Quebec from the vicinity of the Canadian National Railway tracks 
northward to James Bay. In the west, across the prairies and British Columbia from 
southern Yukon Territory to south of the International Boundary. 
SUBSPECIES. Several subspecies of Sharp-tailed are recognized. The Northern 
Sharp-tail (la Gelinotte a queue line du Nord) Pedioecetes phasianellus phasianellus, a 
slightly dark form, ranges across the north woods from Quel)ec to Alaska. The Prairie 
Sharp-tailed (la Gelinotte a queue fine des prairies) Pedioecetes phasianellus campestris, 
a generally creamy-coloured bird, occupies the prairies, and the Columbian Sharp-tailed 
(la Gelinotte a queue fine de la Colombie) Pedioecetes phasianellus columbianus , a slightly 
greyer bird, is the form of southern British Colombia. The boundaries between the 
northern and the southern forms have not been quite accurately defined. 
