SAGE GROUSE. 139 
utter a loud kek-kek-kek, which kind of cackle is kept up 
for quite a considerable time. They seem to have diffi- 
culty in getting well on the wing, and rise heavily, wab- 
bling from side to side as if trying to gain an equilibrium, 
but once started they go far and fast enough, with inter- 
mittent quick beats of the pinions and easy sailing on 
motionless wings. 
As a rule the Sage Grouse is not very wild, and a 
covey, when anyone draws near, will at first walk quietly 
along, frequently within easy gunshot, and it is not until 
they are persistently followed, or one suddenly dashes 
into a covey, that they take wing. It requires a hard 
blow to bring them down, and large shot are necessary to 
kill them, for they are capable, even if severely wounded, 
of carrying away large quantities of lead, and will fly a 
long distance, probably not stopping until life is extinct. 
The number in a covey is usually small, much less than is 
observed in many other species of Grouse, ranging, ac- 
cording to my observation, from seven to ten, often not 
over five or six. These are probably the survivors of the 
original brood which has been decimated by adverse 
weather, such as heavy storms and wet seasons, during 
which many chicks succumb to the onslaught of various 
enemies both furred and feathered, not to mention man, 
the most destructive enemy of all. 
In the winter the coveys gather together in great packs; 
sometimes a hundred birds are assembled in one immense 
flock, and great is the commotion and loud the whirring 
and beating of wings and vociferous cackling when from 
any cause they rise in the air. The members of a family 
roost in a circle on the ground, in the manner described 
in the article on Bob White, so that in case of alarm each 
great bird has a fair way of escape directly in front of 
him, without danger of being impeded or incommoded 
