_Tetrao phasianellus_, LINN. S. N. I, (ed. 10,) 1758, p. 160.—FORST.
Phil. Trans. LXII, 1772, 394, 495.—GMEL.—LATH.—Bon. Comp.
List.—SABINE.—EDWARDS.—RICHARDSON. _Centrocercus p._ G. R. GRAY,
Cat. B. Brit. Mus.—BON. Compt. Rend.—? SWAINS. F. B. A. (in part?).
_Pediœcetes p._ (not of BAIRD, Birds N. Am.)—ELLIOT, P. A. N. S.
Philad. 1862, 402–404.—IB. Monog. Tetraoninæ, pl.—Murray, Edinb. Phil.
J. 1859 (Trout Lake Station).—DALL & BANNISTER, Tr. Chicago Ac. I,
1869, 287.—GRAY, Cat. Brit. Mus. V, 1867, 88. _Tetrao urogallus_, var.
β, LINN. S. N. I, (ed. 12,) 273. _Pediœcetes kennicotti_, SUCKLEY,
P. A. N. S. Philad. 1861.
[Illustration: _Pediœcetes phasianellus._]
SP. CHAR. Prevailing colors, clear dusky-black above, and pure
white beneath; no buff about the head. Upper parts variegated with
transverse, rather zigzag, spots of yellowish-brown; scapulars with
broad, elliptical, longitudinal medial spots of pure white; wing-coverts
with large rounded, and outer webs of primaries with smaller and more
quadrate, spots of pure white. Breast thickly covered with broad
V-shaped, and the sides with less numerous sagittate, marks of uniform
clear slaty or dusky. Legs densely feathered, the long hair-like
feathers reaching beyond the claws, and completely hiding the toes.
Throat thickly spotted with dusky. No appreciable differences in
plumage between the sexes. _Male_ (31,616, Fort Resolution, Dec. 1862;
J. Lockhart). Wing, 8.60; tail, 4.50, the two middle feathers one inch
longer.
HAB. British America, from Hudson’s Bay Territory, south to northern
shore of Lake Superior, and west to Alaska and British Columbia.
HABITS. The Arctic form of the Sharp-tailed Grouse is found throughout
the Arctic regions, from Alaska southward and eastward to an extent not
fully ascertained. Mr. Dall states that this variety is not uncommon at
Fort Yukon, where Mr. Lockhart found it breeding and obtained its eggs.
It has also been seen some two hundred miles down the river, but it is
said not to be found below the cañon known as the Ramparts. Captain
Ketchum, in his adventurous winter trip from Nulato to Fort Yukon,
is said to have killed several of these birds. Specimens are in the
Smithsonian Museum from Moose Factory and elsewhere along the southern
part of Hudson’s Bay, and it is said to be abundant about Nipigon Lake,
north of Lake Superior.
Mr. Kennicott found the nest of this bird at Fort Yukon, at the foot
of a clump of dwarf willows. It was in dry ground, and in a region in
which these willows abounded and were quite thickly interspersed with
other trees, especially small spruces, but no large growth. The nest is
said to have been similar to that of _Cupidonia cupido_. Mr. Lockhart
also found it breeding in the same region. The nests seen by him were
likewise built on a rising ground under a few small willows.
Richardson assigns as the northern limit of this species the region
of the Great Slave Lake, latitude 61°, and as its most southern point
latitude 41°. It was found in abundance on the outskirts of the
Saskatchewan plains and throughout the wooded districts of the fur
countries, frequenting the open glades or low thickets on the borders
of lakes, especially where the forests have been partially cleared;
perching on trees in the winter, but keeping to the ground in the
summer; and, at all seasons, met with in small flocks of from ten to
sixteen. They are said, early in spring, to select some level place,
where a covey meets every morning and runs round in a circle of about
twenty feet in diameter, so that the grass is worn quite bare. If any
one approaches this circle, the birds squat close to the ground; but if
not alarmed by a too near approach, they soon stretch out their necks to
survey the intruder, and resume their circular course, some running to
the right and others to the left, meeting and crossing each other. These
“partridge-dances” are said to last a month or more, or until the female
begins to incubate. This Grouse rises from the ground with the usual
whirring noise, and alights again at a distance of a few hundred yards,
sometimes on the ground or on the branches of a tree. In winter they
hide in the snow, and make their way with ease through the loose drifts,
feeding on the buds of the willows, larches, aspens, etc. In summer and
autumn their food is principally berries. They are said to lay about
thirteen eggs early in June; the nest being on the ground, formed of
grasses lined with feathers.
The eggs of this variety closely resemble those of the _columbianus_,
but are generally of a decidedly darker ground. They average 1.75
inches in length by 1.28 in breadth. Their ground is a dark tawny-brown
minutely dotted with darker spots of brown.
Pediœcetes phasianellus, var. columbianus, BAIRD.