SAGE GROUSE. 
Centrocercus urophasianus. 
The sage grouse may always be recognized by its 
great size and by the fact that its tail is longer than 
the wings, and is graduated, with narrow pointed 
quills. The upper plumage is gray, variously marked 
and streaked with black. Some of the tertiary feathers 
are tipped with white or streaked with white; the chin, 
cheeks and throat are spotted black and white, but there 
is usually a distinct white streak on the side of the 
head running a short way back of the eye. The neck 
is black in front, while the fore breast is white or 
grayish, and on either side of the lower neck in the 
whitish areas are stiff, coarse hair-like feathers. The 
belly is black, and the lower tail coverts black tipped 
with white. The male is from 26 to 30 inches long, 
with a wing of from 12 to 13 inches, and a tail about 
the same length. The birds weigh from 4 to 8 pounds. 
The female is much smaller; has the chin and throat 
white and the black patch on the front of the neck 
speckled. Half-grown birds are browner than their 
parents, with a warmer tone of rufous in their plumage, 
more like the young of the dusky grouse. The length 
of the female is from 20% to 23 inches. 
Excepting the wild turkey, the sage hen, as it is often 
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