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Show Tracks of Birds in Snow Are Easy to Identify; Ringnecked Pheasant Prancer Although snow tracks of fur bearing bear-ing animals such as the rabbit, squirrel, mink, and weasel usually are more interesting to the outdoor fan than those left by birds, winter birds can tell us a number of interesting in-teresting stories if we are familiar with their tracks, notes Bob Becker in the Chicago Tribune. One of the birds which leaves good sized prints in the snow of fields and woods is the ringnecked pheasant pheas-ant It is possible to see pheasant tracks whenever there is snow on doesn't lift each foot high and then plant it squarely in the snow. Instead In-stead he drags each foot, so that a long line is cut in the snow. This is accentuated when the ringneck sprints for cover. There is no game bird that leaves tracks in the snow over such a wide area as the ringnecked pheasant. pheas-ant. This bird is confident and bold compared to the Hungarian partridge par-tridge and quail. The quail, ever conscious of danger, would hesitate to go too far from protective cover and feed in an open field that would be no hazard at all to the pheasant The quail makes a snow track about the same size as that made by a barnyard pigeon. the ground. They are quite easy to identify. In the first place, the pheasant leaves a snow print that is large enough to catch the eye. Secondly, the middle toe of the bird stands in an almost straight line in the trail. This particular feature of the pheasant's track is one that makes it quite easy to distinguish from footprints of other good sized wild birds. One peculiarity of the pheasant tracks in the snow which always catches our eye is the blurred line that usually can be seen between footprints. This mark is left in the snow by the dragging feet of the bird. When Mr. Ringneck walks ha |