SAGE HEN 301 



ing. Towards the southwest are the blue Uintah Mountains, with snow flashing 

 on their crests all summer, and towards the east the vast plain of sage extends 

 as far as the eye can reach, blending at the horizon into an azure sky. The 

 trout streams which issue from the mountain side become the small rivers of 

 the plains, flowing at long intervals and nourishing a narrow line of verdure or 

 a yellow screen of cottonwood, which marks their course. It is along such 

 streams that the sage grouse hunter must pitch his camp. 



Courtship. — Much has been written about the courtship of the 

 sage grouse, which is the most spectacular performance indulged in 

 by any of the grouse. It has been variously described by different 

 observers. Frank Bond (1900) was one of the first to describe and 

 illustrate this with a drawing ; he writes : 



During the months of April and May the Sage Cocks are usually found in small 

 flocks of a half dozen or more, stalking about with tails erect and spread after 

 the manner of the strutting turkey cock, but I have never seen the Grouse drag- 

 ging their wings upon the ground, turkey fashion, and in the manner described 

 by Dr. Newberry in the quotation from this author found on page 406 of 

 Dr. Coues's " Birds of the Northwest," nor have I ever found a wing of a 

 Sage Cock in this or any other season, which exhibited the slightest wearing 

 away of the primaries. Instead of dragging its wings upon the ground the 

 Sage Cock will enormously inflate the air sacks of the neck until the whole neck 

 and breast is balloon-like in appearance, then stooping forward, almost the entire 

 weight of the body is thrown upon the distended portion and the bird slides 

 along on the bare ground or short grass for some distance, the performance 

 being concluded by the expulsion of the air from the sacks with a variety of 

 chuckling, cackling or rumbling sounds. This performance is continued prob- 

 ably daily, during the pairing and nesting season, and of course the feathers are 

 worn away by the constant friction. 



William L. Finley's account of it differs somewhat. He has sent 

 me the following notes on the subject: 



On May 13 we rose at 3.15 and were in the blind a little after 4, still very 

 dark. The birds at this time were already strutting. We could hear them 

 and occasionally see a flash of white from the breasts. The birds were active 

 between 4.30 and 6.30 a. m. and had left the strutting ground by 8 a. m. 

 When the sage cock starts to strut, his tail spreads and the long pointed tail 

 feathers radiate out in a half arc. The air sacs are filled and extend nearly 

 to the ground, hiding the black breast feathers. This is the first movement. 

 Then the bird takes one or two steps forward and throws up the pouch, appar- 

 ently by drawing back the head and neck. The next movement is a repetition 

 of throwing the air sacs up and down and getting under headway for the last 

 toss of the pouch, which is brought down with a jerk, as one would crack a 

 whip, making a " plop " that on a quiet morning we easily heard for a distance 

 of 200 or 300 yards. The whole movement gives one the idea that the bird 

 inflates the air sacs and then, by the rigid position of the body and throwing 

 the head and neck back, gives these air sacs a very vigorous shaking. In the 

 movement when the pouch spreads, the bare yellow skin on the lower part 

 of the pouch or chest shows clearly. As the pouch is thrown up and down, 

 the wings are held rigid, the tips of the wing feathers sometimes touching the 

 ground. The white feathers that cover the chest are exceedingly stiff; these 

 grate against the wing feathers, giving out a wheezy sound that at first I 



