176 AMEBIC AN GAME BIKD SHOOTING. 



gizzard — a statement which is true in a particular sense, 

 for this organ is as soft as that of birds of prey, and is 

 almost totally unlike the hard, dense apparatus of ordi- 

 nary gallinaceous birds. 



Living principally on the leaves of the so-called wild 

 sage {Ai'temisia tridentata), its flesh has a peculiarly bit- 

 ter taste, which makes it anything but pleasant, even to 

 the palate of a hungry man; but if the bird is " drawn " 

 immediately after being shot, and some onions and a slice 

 or two of lemon are placed in the abdominal cavity ere it 

 is roasted, the acrid flavor is modified to such an extent 

 that even a fastidious person might partake of it witliout 

 much grumbling. The flesh of both old and young is 

 dry and black, so that it is not much sought after, even 

 by hunters. Their opinion of its merits may be readily 

 inferred from the names they apply to it, which vary 

 from " Injun killer " to '' walking quiuine " and " feath- 

 ered sage-tea." The birds are said to prefer the leaves 

 of the artemisia to grain, and to be able to remain 

 witliout water a long time. The latter statement may 

 be readily believed, for I have seen them in sterile re- 

 gions where no water was to be found for miles, yet they 

 were as lively and cheerful as they could well be. They 

 may, like the prairie chickens, be content to quench 

 their thirst with sips of the morning or evening dew, 

 where streams or tarns are scarce. 



This species never takes to trees, and when alarmed 

 it tries to escape by skulking in the sago, rather than by 

 flight. AVhen it does take to the wing, however, it rises 

 with a loud and heavy whirr, after uttering its notes of 

 fear, and frequently flies quite a long distance before 

 alighting. It is, as a rule, so tame that it will allow a 

 person to approach to within a few feet before it thinks 

 of running away. It is almost as familiar as a barn-yard 

 fowl, and as easily killed. 



The pairing season commences in March or April, ac- 



