302 BULLETIN 162, UNITED STATES NATIONAL MUSEUM 



thought came from the inhaling and exhaling of air. I soon discovered that 

 this rasping noise was made by the stiff feathers rubbing together. This 

 rubbing of the breast feathers against the rigid wing feathers seems to account 

 for the very worn appearance of the breast later in the season. If there 

 were any gurgling or chuckling noises I failed to catch them. As the strutting 

 ends, the air sacs are deflated and each time the bird goes through the motion 

 as if gulping or swallowing something. 



There were 56 cocks scattered around in an area of 4 or 5 acres, each bird 

 having a space for himself. Occasionally when one bird came too near another 

 it resulted in a fight. Once I saw two fight with lowered heads. Occasionally 

 they would jump in the air, striking very much as an ordinary rooster strikes. 

 Two or three times I saw a female feeding near by, where the males were 

 strutting. One passed by several cocks, but they paid no attention to her, or 

 she to them. This gave me the impression that the strutting was not so much 

 a courting performance or even a nuptial dance; it seemed to be a gathering 

 place where the males came together and " showed off " among themselves. 



E. S. Cameron (1907) observed: 



By ruffling up all their feathers, spreading their tails, and dragging their 

 wings along the ground they looked much larger than they really we're, while 

 they produced a rattling sound with their quills after the manner of turkey- 

 cocks and peafowl. 



Some additional information is given by L. E. Burnett (1905), 

 who writes: 



I have heard them drum as early as December. This performance is most, 

 often observed where hundreds of males and females have congregated to- 

 gether, a custom which they have in the fall of the year. By February, the 

 males are all drumming, but this is not continued during bad weather which 

 closes the session until fair weather returns. By the latter part of the month 

 the males are in full dress. Their protracted meetings last until the first 

 days of May. After the violets and buttercups have come and the song of the 

 sage thrush begins, their drumming is heard but occasionally. When drum- 

 ming they stand very erect, holding the wings away from the sides and nearly 

 perpendicularly, while the large loose skin of the neck is worked up, and the 

 head drawn in and out until the white feathers are brought to the chin. 

 At the same time the galls are filled with air until the birds look as if they 

 were carrying snowballs on their shoulders. Then the skin which lies be- 

 tween the galls is drawn in with a sucking movement, thus bringing the galls 

 together or nearly so. With this action the air is expelled from the throat 

 producing the noise, which is hard to mimic and which resembles that of 

 an old pump just within hearing distance. After the bird has accomplished 

 this feat he walks away a few paces either in a straight line or a circle, with 

 wings down, hanging loosely, but not grating on the ground. At times they 

 do drag the wings as they strut along with tail spread and erect, though not 

 so perpendicular as that of a turkey. Again they will dance about with all 

 the pomp of a male pigeon. 



Maj. Allan Brooks (1930) says that "the feathers of the breast 

 and neck of the male sage grouse are specialized feathers only " and 

 are not worn away by rubbing on the ground during the display. 



