The grouse is a fowl like bird common in North America and north Europe of the family Tetraonidae whose distinguishing mark is a naked band, often of a red colour, in place of an eyebrow. They are wild, shy and almost untameable living in families in forests and barren regions and feeding on berries, buds and leaves. They are polygamous, the male abandoning the female, and leaving to her the whole care of the progeny. The eggs number eight to fourteen. The largest species is the capercailzie or wood grouse. Other British species are the black grouse, the red grouse, commonly called simply the grouse, and the white grouse or ptarmigan.
The black grouse (Tetrao tetrix) is about the size of a common fowl. The male has the outer feathers of the tail curved outwards, so that the tail is lyre-shaped. It chiefly lives in high and wooded situations, feeding on various kinds of berries. The female is commonly called gray hen. To this genus belong several species peculiar to North America, the most remarkable of which is the pinnated grouse or prairie hen (Tetrao cupido), which inhabits open desert plains in particular districts of the Union. The male is furnished with wing-like appendages to his neck, covering two loose, orangesacs, capable of being inflated. Another species is the cock of the plains.
The grouse with hairy feet and which undergo seasonal change of plumage form the genus Lagopus. Of these the red grouse (Lagopus scoticus) is the most important. This bird, also called the moor fowl, is found in the Highlands of Scotland, also in Wales, the north of England, Ireland, and the Scottish islands. It pairs in the spring; the female lays eight or ten eggs. As soon as the young have attained their full size they unite in flocks of forty or fifty, and are extremely shy and wild. This bird attracts large numbers of sportsmen every August to the Scottish moors to take part in the grand sporting campaign which follows 'the twelfth.' The ptarmigan or white grouse (Lagopus mutus or vulgaris) is. ash-coloured in summer but its hue changes to a pure white in winter. It is found in Scotland and in the most northern regions, imhabiting the tops of mountains. Research Grouse
The hare (Lepus) is a genus of rodent quadrupeds similar to the rabbit, with long ears, long hind legs, a short tail, soft hair and a divided upper lip. The two fore-feet have five and the hinder four toes. They run by a kind of leaping pace. The young hare is called a leveret and are born in litters of between three and six leverets up to four times a year. The young leverets have their eyes open at birth.
The common hare (Lepus timidus) is found throughout Europe and some parts of Asia. It is tawny red on the back and white on the belly, and is about 60 cm long. The mountain hare or varying hare (Lepus variabilis), confined to Northern Europe and the mountainous regions of the south, is smaller than the common hare, and becomes white in winter. The former Lepus cuniculus, now, Oryctolagus cuniculus, is the rabbit, properly so called, distinguished by its smaller size and burrowing habits. The American hare (Lepus Americanus), not much larger than a rabbit, is found in most parts of North America. In North America there are also the polar hare (Lepus glacialis), a variety of the varying hare (Lepus variabilis), but of superior size and purer colour; and the prairie hare (Lepus campestris), one of the species known as jackass hares or Jack-rabbits, from their size and length of limb.
The hare is protected from its enemies mainly by the acuteness of its sight and hearing and its extraordinary swiftness of foot. Its voice is never heard except when seized or wounded, when it utters a sharp loud cry, not very unlike that of a child. Its flesh is rather dry, but is much prized for its peculiar flavour. Research Hare
The pinnated grouse or prairie hen (Tetrao cupido) is a north American bird much prized as a food. The neck of the male is furnished with tufts of eighteen feathers and two loose pendulous wrinkled skins which resemble an orange on inflation. Research Pinnated Grouse
Squirrel is a popular name for the many rodents of the family Sciuridae, which also includes the woodchuck, chipmunk , and prairiedog . the genus Sciurus includes many common species of what are generally known as
squirrels, such as the red squirrel and grey squirrel so common in Britain. The subfamily Sciurinae includes the tree and ground squirrels, with about 225 species; and the subfamily Petauristinae includes the so-called flying- squirrels, with about 35 species.
Squirrels range in size from the pygmy squirrels (Myosciurus) of Africa, which are about 13 centimetres long, to the giant squirrels (Ratufa) of Asia, which are about 90 centimetres long. Squirrels are found in all parts of the world except Australia. Except for the ground squirrels, the animals live mainly in trees, and their food is largely vegetable (especially nuts, seeds, and buds), although they occasionally eat insects. Their habit of storing seeds helps in the dispersion of trees and other plant forms. In colder climates, ground squirrels commonly hibernate; tree squirrels do not. Research Squirrel
The Western Hognose Snake (Heterodon nasicus) is an American snake of about fifty centimeters in length found in relatively dry, sandy prairie areas, scrubland and river floodplains in Iowaand surrounding areas of the USA where it eats frogs, toads, small rodents, birds, lizards, small snakes and reptile's eggs. The Western Hognose Snake is acrepuscular - active during the morning and late afternoon. Research Western Hognose Snake
The Crees are a North American Indian tribe of Algonquin stock and speech. They were divided into the Thickwood or Swampy Crees inhabiting the region between Hudson Bay and Lake Winnipeg; and the Plain or Prairie Crees who occupied the open country towards the Rocky Mountains. Traditionally they were at war with the Blackfoot Indians, but with the coming of the Europeans became fur traders trading furs with the Hudson Bay Company. Research Crees
George Frederick Root was an American professor of music. He was born in 1820 at Sheffield, Massachusetts and died in 1895. From 1838 to 1843 he taught music at New Reading and from 1845 to 1855 at New York. From 1860 he was a member of a Chicago music firm. He wrote a number of cantatas, among them 'The Flower Queen', 'Daniel' and 'The Hay-makers'; and popular songs including 'The HazelDell', 'Rosalie the PrairieFlower', and 'The Battle Cry of Freedom'. Research George Root
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Matt and Leela Probert
Abbreviations
Research Prairie
