SAGE GROUSE. 23 



leading all other birds in this respect. A half pint of the showy, 

 bluish blossoms of the pasqiie flower {Pulsatilla hirsutissirna) which 

 brightens the western prairie are often taken at a meal, and those of 

 the dandelion also are eaten. Inflorescence of grasses, alder, willow, 

 maple, and canoe birch are plucked along with leaf buds. 



Like the prairie hen and the ruffed grouse, the sharp-tailed grouse 

 is frugivorous, and fruit forms 27.68 percent of its diet. Hips of 

 wild rose alone form 17.38 percent. Ernest Thompson Seton, wdio 

 examined hundreds of stomachs of the sharp-tailed grouse, says that 

 he can not recollect an instance in which they did not contain the 

 stony seeds of the wild rose {Rosa hlanda [?]).* The Biological Sur- 

 A'ey has found rose seeds in many of the stomachs examined, but in 

 numerous instances it has recorded their absence. The fruit of both 

 l^rairie rose and the sweetbrier {Rosa rulnginosa) are eaten. Mr. 

 Seton states that in places in Manitoba where he has collected dur- 

 ing the winter, gravel to pulverize the food is not to be had, and the 

 stony rose seeds act in its stead. Rose hips appear difficult to digest, and, 

 furthermore, are sometimes thickly set with bristles that would irri- 

 tate the human stomach, but appear to cause no inconvenience to the 

 grouse. The persistent bright -colored hips are readily seen above the 

 snow, and they are a boon to the birds in wintry northern regions, 

 where the struggle for existence is bitter. Other plants of the rose 

 family furnish food for the sharp-tailed grouse, such as the thorn 

 apple {CraUegus sp.), the wild strawberry, and the wild black cherry 

 {Prunus serotina). It feeds on blueberries and cranberries and on the 

 snowberry {Sijmphoricarpiis racemosus), various species of manza- 

 nita, bearberry {Arctostaphylos uva-ursi), buffalo berry {Lepargijrea 

 argentea), juniper berries, huckleberries, and arbutus berries. It 

 takes also the partridge berry {Mitchella repens), a favorite with the 

 ruffed grouse. Like many other species, it eats wnth relish the fruit 

 of cornel {Cornus stolonifera) and poison ivy (both Rhus radlcans 

 iind Rhus diversiloha). 



THE SAGE GROUSE. 

 {Centrocercus urophasianus.) 



With the exception of the wild turkey, the sage grouse is our largest 

 game fowl. It is a fine-looking bird, with gray back, black breast, 

 and long tail, and attains a maxinunn weight of 8 pounds. It breeds 

 on the sagebrush plains of the Upper Sonoran and Transition zones, 

 from the east slope of the Sierra Nevada and Cascade mountains in 

 Nevada, California, and British Columbia, east to Assiniboia, Dakota, 

 Nebraska, and Colorado. At mating time the cock inflates the sacs 



arroe. U. S. Nat. Mus. XIII, p. 519, 1890 (1891). 



