SAGE GROUSE 279 
the places where they have spent the night remind one 
much of the roosting place of a brood of quail. When 
full-feathered and half grown, they are very gentle 
and unsuspicious, and it used to be common to see a 
brood of them walk along feeding before a man who 
was following them up, trying to shoot their heads 
off with a rifle or a six-shooter. They paid no attention 
to the shots, but if one was wounded and fluttered 
about, all flew without delay. At this age they seem 
very social, constantly calling to each other with a 
high-pitched, peeping note, and if one wanders off 
from the flock or is left behind, he becomes very un- 
easy and runs hard in his efforts to overtake the family. 
When full grown, and at the approach of cold weather, 
the birds become more shy and fly more readily. On 
flying they give a hoarse cackle, somewhat like that 
of the sharp-tailed grouse, but deeper. 
The sage grouse always roosts on the ground, and 
I have never seen them in what could fairly be called 
a tree. Captain Bendire reports having seen them on 
the horizontal limb of the juniper, about two feet from 
the ground. 
A number of years ago, in response to an inquiry 
from him, I wrote Major Bendire as follows: 
“On a very few occasions I have seen the sage grouse 
standing on the branches of a sage bush, sometimes 2 
or 3 feet from the ground, but I imagine this is 
quite an unusual position for the bird. This species 
commonly, I think, goes to water twice a day, flying 
down to the springs and creek bottoms to drink in the 
