PRAIRIE HEN. 
305. Tympanuclms americanus. 18 inches. 
This is the most familiar game bird of the West; brownish 
above and white or buff below, with broad black bands on 
the back and finer black lines on the under parts. In place of 
the ruffs on a grouse are long tufts of rounded or square 
ended feathers, and below these a peculiar sac; bright orange 
in the breeding season, and capable of being inflated to the 
size of a small orange; this is done when the bird makes 
its familiar ( ‘booming’ ’ noise. They are one of the best 
“table birds,” being of good size and excellent flavor. 
Nest. —In hollows on the ground in the cover of tufts of 
grass; they lay from eight to fifteen eggs, having a buffy 
ground color, finely sprinkled with brown spots (1.70 x 1.25). 
WHITE-TAILED PTARMIGAN. 
301. Lagopus leucurus. 13 inches. 
Found in the higher ranges of the Rocky Mountains, from 
Colorado north to Alaska. This species differs from any of 
the preceding in having at all seasons of the year a white 
tail; it is also somewhat smaller than the Rock Ptarmigan. 
From six to twelve creamy white eggs; speckled and blotched 
with chestnut brown (1.70 x 1.15). 
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