280 AMERICAN GAME BIRD SHOOTING 
evening, then feeding away a short distance, but roost- 
ing near at hand. In the morning they drink again and 
spend the middle of the day on the upland. The young 
birds, when feeding together, constantly call to one 
another with a low, peeping cry, which is audible only 
for a short distance. This habit I have noticed in 
several other species of our grouse, notably in the 
dusky grouse and sharp-tail. 
“In western Wyoming the sage grouse packs in Sep- 
tember and October. In October, 1886, when camped 
just below a high bluff on the border of Bates’ Hole 
in Wyoming, I saw great numbers of these birds just 
after sunrise, flying over my camp to the little spring 
which oozed out of the bluff, 200 yards away. 
Looking up from the tent at the edge of the bluff above 
us we could see projecting over it the heads of hundreds 
of the birds, and as those standing there took flight, 
others stepped forward to occupy their places. The 
number of grouse which flew over the camp reminded 
me of the old-time flights of passenger pigeons that I 
used to see when I was a boy. Before long the narrow 
valley where the water was, was a moving mass of 
gray. I have no means of estimating the number of 
birds which I saw, but there must have been thousands 
of them.” 
Although the sage hen is a large bird, rises slowly, 
and lumbers off with a good deal of noise, nevertheless, 
after they have attained their full growth, it is not 
always easy to hit these birds when in full flight, espe- 
cially if going with the wind. 
