CHAPTER VII. 



THE SAGE COCK. 



The sage cock — Its range, weight, and color— A peculiar gizzard— Bit- 

 ter taste of the flesh, and how to remedy it — Can go a long time 

 witliout water— Never flies to trees— Tries to escape by skulking — 

 Strong on the wing — Very tame — The pairing season — The wooing 

 song— Pompous lovers — The nest and young— Brave mothers — Ene- 

 mies—Large packs. 



The Sage Cock (Centrocercus urophasianiis), which is 

 a denizen of the region lying between Western Kansas 

 and the Sierra Nevada and Cascade Eanges, is the larg- 

 est of the American grouse, an adult male frequently at- 

 taining a length of thirty inches, and a weight varying 

 from three to seven pounds. The female is much smaller, 

 her average length being about two feet, and her weight 

 three or four pounds. The tail is composed of twenty 

 acuminate feathers, and equals or exceeds the wing in 

 length; on each side of the neck are very large, dilatable 

 air-sacs of naked yellow skin, which are bordered by a 

 patch of curiously-stiifened corneous feathers, that re- 

 semble fish scales somewhat, and frequently end in long, 

 bristly filaments. 



The color of the upper parts of the body is a mixture 

 of black, brown, and yellowish-gray; the sides of the 

 lower part of the neck are whitish; and the lower por- 

 tions of the breast and abdomen are black. The female 

 and chickens differ slightiy from this hue, and are de- 

 ficient in the rigid neck-feathers of the males. The 

 sexes can be readily distinguished apart at a glance by 

 their size and markings, and their attitude when walk- 

 ing or staring. Old hunters say that this species has no 

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