GROUSE 



29 



tlu-ir conipaiiions, strut, swell, and even lis,'lu 

 The pfrfi;rmancc resembles in some ways an 

 Indian war dance and each liird seems to be 

 anxious to make as much noise and show as 

 possible. The dance soes on day after day until 

 the mating season is over and often begins again 

 in autunm. 



The nest, usually placed in the open, shaded 

 perhajis by grasses, weeds, or bushes, is not very 

 carefully concealed except when the female is 

 sitting. Then her colors and markings blend so 

 perfectly with the surroundings that no eye can 

 find her and she will sit on the nest until trodden 

 upon, rather than exjjose her eggs to hostile eyes. 

 She rarely leaves it until the young arc hatched 

 and gets her food, consisting of buds and grass- 

 hoppers, close by. The young birds leave the 

 nest when hatched and live on the ground and 

 they have only to squat to become imperce])tiblc 

 to the ordinary eye. When the brood has 

 scattered the mother calls them together with a 

 hoarse raucous croak. 



.About the middle of autunm they begin to alight 

 in trees and to gather in large " packs." When 

 startled and about to fiy they utter a sharp cack- 

 ling sound and this is repeated' from time to 

 time in the flight, which resembles that of the 

 Prairie Chicken, as they alternately flap and sail. 

 This bird seems to prefer shrubbery or the edges 



of the timber to the open plains, particularly in 

 winter. Mdwakd IIowk I'oKiiusii. 



The food of the Sharp-tailed Grouse is similar 

 to that of the I'rairie Grouse. Many grasshop- 

 pers and other insects are eaten, the young being 

 highly insectivorous like all the other Grouse, 

 the Quails, and the Turkeys. The vegetable 

 food com])rises leaves, buds, and flowers, weed 

 seeds, fruit, and grain. Since this is the more 

 northern species, it naturally relies more on buds 

 than the I'rairie Grouse does, and in winter it 

 eats birch buds, willow buds, and others. It is 

 well worth preserving and could easily be re- 

 stored and made plentiful and profitable on many 

 of the big wheat farms of the northwestern and 

 Pacific coast States. The Sharp-tail is very 

 fond of wheat, but it cannot secure the grains be- 

 neath the snow during the long winters, and it 

 perishes because the wild roses and other winter 

 foods have been destroyed. A handsome border 

 to a private road, fence, or path, containing wild 

 roses and sunflowers and prairie grasses, could be 

 made to yield a good crop of Grouse, many of 

 which might be shot on the stubbles in the autumn 

 without any danger of extermination. Some 

 stock birds should be left, of course, and the 

 Prairie Falcon, the coyote, the snake and other 

 enemies should not be permitted to devour them. 



SAGE HEN 

 Centrocercus urophasianus ( Bonaf^artc) 



A. () V. Number 309 



Other Names. — Cock of the Plains; Sage Cock; 

 Sage Grouse. 



General Description. — Length, male. 25 to 30 inches ; 

 female. 20 inches. Color above, black, brown, and yel- 

 lowish-white, variegated ; below, yellow-white. Tarsus, 

 feathered to toes ; tail, longer than wings, graduated, 

 and with the 20 feathers pointed. 



Color. — Male : Above, varied with black, grayish- 

 brown, and dull yellowish-white ; the wing-coverts, 

 streaked with whitish ; tail with the marbling tending to 

 form bars; on side of neck a patch of feathers with 

 stiff shafts changing to hair-like filaments at ends about 

 3 inches long; in front of these feathers a naked patch 

 of yellow skin capable of great distension ; above them 

 a tuft of white down feathers covered with long 



plumes of black; chin and throat, blackish usually with 

 a definite white collar behind; rest of lower parts, 

 yellow-white with a large black area on abdomen. 

 .'\dult Female: Plumage similar to male, but lacking 

 black throat and with no peculiar feathers on neck; 

 tail, much shorter and with narrower feathers. Young: 

 Similar to adult female but brownish above. 



Nest and Eggs. — Nest : Slight depression in the 

 ground, scratched out by the bird, usually under sage 

 bushes. Eggs : 7 to 9, dull yellowish-olive to greenish- 

 brown, marked with round spots of dark brown. 



Distribution. — Sagebrush plains from southern Brit- 

 ish Columbia, southern Saskatchewan, and northwestern 

 North Dakota, south to middle-eastern California, 

 northwestern New Mexico, and northwestern Nebraska. 



The Sage Hen is unique. It is the largest of fowls of the world. Nevertheless, the American 

 American gallinaceous birds, excepting only the people are fast exterminating it. It exceeds all 

 Wild Turkey. It is one of the most remarkable other Grouse in size, with the possible exception 



