o3gC OCn {Centrocercus urophasianus) 



Range : Sagebrush plains from middle southern British Columbia, southern 

 Saskatchewan, and northwestern North Dakota to middle eastern California, north- 

 western New Mexico, and nort|iwestern Nebraska. 



To make the acquaintance of the sage hen, the largest of the grouse family 

 in the United States, one must leave the region of forests and greenery and betake 

 himself to the barren plains country where grows in abundance the Artemisia or 

 sage brush. This aromatic plant furnishes the bird not only safe cover, but also 

 food. Indeed, sage leaves constitute such a large part of the regular fare of the 

 old birds that their flesh becomes strongly tainted, and he must be hungry indeed 

 who relishes it. The flesh of the young, however, is excellent. Owing to its large 

 size and its tameness it makes the easiest of marks, and unless special attention 

 is given to its preservation the bird will before long become rare. The yellow air 

 sacs on the neck of the male as inflated to enormous size during the mating sea- 

 son, and together with his curious antics no doubt suflice to render him irresistible 

 to the female. 



oluC-r rOnted J3,y{Cya?iocitta stelleri and sub-species) 



Length, 11^ to 13 inches. Easily distinguished from its fellows by its high 

 crest, brownish slaty fore-parts, dark blue wings and tail and blue or whitish 

 streaks on forehead. 



Range : Resident in western North America from southern Alaska and Mon- 

 tana to Mexico. 



The blue-fronted jays, of which the Steller jay may be taken as the type, are 

 common inhabitants of the piny woods of both the Rocky Mountains and the 

 Sierra Nevada States. They are among the handsomest of the family, the beauty 

 of their plumage, their long erectile crests, and their insistent voices compelling 

 the attention of any who invade their retreats. Not being residents of cultivated 

 districts, although they eat grain and small fruits, they do comparatively little dam- 

 age. On the other hand, they do not do much good, for, although they are insect 

 eaters, insects do not constitute a large part of their food, nor are the kinds they eat 

 very important economically. Probably their most serious fault is a fondness for 

 the eggs and young of small insectivorous birds of which they destroy many in the 

 course of the year. They share this failing with all other members of the family, 

 and bird lovers must deem it a pity that such bold, dashing, handsome birds as the 

 jays should be so destructive to small but useful birds. This habit is all the more to 

 be deplored, inasmuch as when unmolested jays readily respond to invitations to 

 be neighborly, and willingly take up their abode near houses, where they never 

 fail to excite admiration and interest. 



882 



