274. AMERICAN GAME BIRD SHOOTING 
Columbia. Its eastern range covers parts of North 
Dakota, and extends thence westward through Mon- 
tana, Wyoming and Utah to Oregon, California and 
Nevada. 
The sage grouse is interesting from the fact that it 
possesses a soft, membranous stomach; in this respect 
differing from other gallinaceous birds. Its food varies 
with the seasons, and no doubt in winter the leaves of 
the so-called sage brush make up the most of this. 
The sage grouse takes its name from this plant, on 
which, at certain seasons, it feeds extensively. Yet 
it eats other food, including grain. In Forest and 
Stream of August 29, 1889, Mr. George H. Wyman 
says: “The sage cock will eat the leaves from a sage 
bush when it cannot get berries or grain, but it will go 
farther for a morning’s feed from a wheat field than 
any bird I know, except the wild geese. I have killed 
sage fowls with stomachs filled with ripe wheat picked 
up the same morning in places where none was to be 
had nearer than eight miles, and in fact with no culti- 
vation of any kind nearer in any direction. They fly 
long distances in search of food, but return to roost in 
the same place at night, generally on some steep hillside, 
free from shrubs or high grass.” This may have been 
an error of observation. Very likely there was some 
unknown source of grain supply nearer at hand. But 
this, of course, cannot be proved. It is stated by some 
observers that sage leaves are resorted to only when 
other food is hard to obtain; but this is a mistake. 
The leaves and flowers of the sage have been found 
