40 
SHARP-TAILED GROUS. 
their way beneath the surface, that they often suddenly take wing* 
several yards from the spot where they entered, and almost always 
in a different direction from that which is expected. 
Like the rest of its kind, the Sharp-tailed Grous breeds on the 
ground near some bush, making a loose nest with grass, and 
lining it with feathers. Here the female lays from nine to thirteen 
eggs, which are white spotted with blackish. The young are 
hatched about the middle of June; they utter a piping noise, 
somewhat like chickens. Attempts have been repeatedly made 
to domesticate them, but have as constantly failed, all the young, 
though carefully nursed by their stepmother, the common hen, 
dying one after another, probably for want of suitable food. This 
species has several cries: the cock has a shrill crowing note, 
rather feeble, and both sexes when disturbed, or whilst on the 
wing, repeat frequently the cry of each , each. This well known 
sound conducts the hunter to their hiding place, and they are also 
detected by producing with their small, lateral, rigid tail-feathers, 
a curious noise resembling that made by a winnowing fan. When 
in good order, one of these Grouse will weigh upwards of two 
pounds, being very plump. Their flesh is of a light brown colour, 
and very compact, though at the same time exceedingly juicy and 
well tasted, being far superior in this respect to the common 
Ruffed, and approaching in excellence the delicious Pinnated 
Grous. 
The adult male Sharp-tailed Grous in full plumage is sixteen 
inches long and twenty-three in breadth. The bill is little more 
than an inch long, blackish, pale at the base of the lower mandible, 
and with its ridge entering between the small feathers covering 
the nostrils: these are blackish edged with pale rusty, the latter 
predominating: the irides are hazel. The general colour of the 
bird is a mixture of white, and different shades of dark and light 
rusty on a rather deep and glossy blackish ground: the feathers 
