THE SAGE GROUSE. 



107 



North Dakota, through Montana, Idaho, and Washington, to tho eastern 

 of tho Cascade Range;, thence south through that portion of Oregon east of 

 the Cascades, northeastern California east of the Sierra Nevada, through 

 Nevada, Utah, Colorado, and northwestern New Mexico; thence eastward 

 again through western Nebraska, Wyoming, and western South Dakota. 

 According to Prof. J. Macoun, it is not rare on some of the tributaries of 

 the Upper Missouri in southern Assiniboia, about 30 miles north of the 

 boundary. 



The Sage Grouse, next to the Wild Turkey, is the largest of the game 

 birds found within the limits of the United States, full-grown males attain- 

 ing not infrequently a weight of 8 pounds. The female is much smaller, 

 rarely weighing more than 5 pounds. This species usually is a resident 

 throughout the year wherever found, but in portions of its range is partly 

 migratory. This has been questioned by some writers, but I have positive- 

 proof that in the upper Sylvies Valley, in the Blue Mountains of Oregon, 

 where they breed very abundantly at an altitude of from 6,000 to 6,000 

 feet, every bird leaves the region at the approach of winter, migrating to 

 the lower Harney Valley, and remaining there until the return of spring. 

 The reason for this migration is easily explained. During the winter these 

 birds feed almost entirely on the leaves of the sage (Artemisia), which 

 usually grows to the height of 2 or 3 feet in some of the richer valley 

 lands. In the upper Sylvies Valley the snow generally covers these sage 

 bushes entirely, even during a comparatively mild winter, hence their principal 

 food supply is cut off, and the birds are necessarily compelled to migrate in 

 order to find something to eat. During the greater portion of the year their 

 food is much more varied than is generally supposed, but the leaves of the 

 sage are always more or less used at all seasons. From personal observa- 

 tion I know that the seed tops of various grasses and leguminous plants, as 

 well as berries of different kinds, grasshoppers, and crickets (Anabus simplex), 

 are consumed to a considerable extent during the summer months. 



Capt. William L. Carpenter, Ninth Infantry, U. S. Army, writes me on this 

 subject as follows: "The Sage Grouse does not feed on the Artemisia as exclu- 

 sively as reported, only resorting to this diet, which renders it so objectionable 

 for the table, in the season when nothing else is obtainable. In summer, its 

 principal food (in Wyoming and Colorado) is the leaves, blossoms, and pods 

 of the different species of plants belonging to the genus Astragalus, and 

 Vicia, commonly called wild pease, which are always eagerly sought for 

 and consumed in great quantities. At this season dissection has shown me 

 also grasshoppers, crickets, and a few of the smaller beetles." 



Mr. Robert S. Williams, Great Falls, Montana, states: "I think these birds 

 are seldom seen far from Artemisia tracts; but once I scared up a flock of six 

 or eight in the middle of a mountain meadow, among tall grass. I obtained 

 one of the birds, and its crop was filled with the blossoms of a species of 

 golden-rod (Solidago rifjidaf)." 



