124 
Capt. Blakiston on the Birds of the 
error in the ( Fauna Bor.-Am/ in the reference to a figure of this 
species, pi. 61 being evidently T. canadensis. 
92. Pedicecetes phasianellus. 
Taking the place, on the northern prairies, of the Prairie Hen 
[Cupidonia cupido), the Sharp-tailed Grouse (the “ Pheasant” 
of the fur-traders and half-breeds, and Ahkis-skieu of the Cree 
Indians) is very generally distributed throughout the interior. 
It is found in the wooded districts, as well as on the plains; but in 
the former it generally resorts to the most open places. It came 
under my observation first just below the forks of the Saskat- 
chawan; and thence I found it to the Bocky Mountains, and 
also at the western base of the range. It also inhabits Bed 
Biver Settlement and Northern Minnesota, extends eastward to 
the shores of Hudson's Bay, and Mr. Boss notes it on the Mac¬ 
kenzie as far north as the Arctic Circle. My specimens ( f Ibis/ 
vol. iv. p. 8) were both obtained at Fort Carlton, in which 
locality the bird was found to breed : the eggs are as many as a 
dozen, of a chocolate-brown, with minute speckles of dark brown, 
hatched on the ground. During my stay in the Indian country, 
I could not but have constant opportunities of observing the 
habits of the Sharp-tailed Grouse at all seasons of the year, 
where I have shot hundreds of them; in fact, when hard pressed 
for food, I often existed for days together on no other fare. Like 
the Buffed Grouse, they seem to be polygamous, collecting in 
the spring at certain chosen spots for the purpose of love-making 
on a grand scale, as I shall presently describe. After the 
breeding-season they are to be found in families at the edge of 
the prairies, or rather in the semi-wooded country bordering the 
treeless prairie wastes, where they often perch on trees, fre¬ 
quently at the very tops; and their crops are usually to be found 
literally filled with berries, of which I have taken from a single 
one as much as would fill a half-pint. These, in the fall of the 
year, are the Bear-berry (.Arctostaphylos uva-ursi ), the “ kinnik- 
kinnik” of the Crees, the leaves of which are much used by the 
half-breeds and Indians as a substitute for, or to mix with to¬ 
bacco, the Ground-Juniper (Juniperus prostratus ), the Snow-berry 
(Symphoricarpus racemosus ), the small Briers of the prairie ( Rosa 
