364 The Sage Grouse 



oblivion for which some game-birds are famous. As will be seen from 

 the above their courtship is rather a display than a 'play' thus differing 

 from the performance of the Sharp-tailed Grouse, which is described 

 under that bird." 



Like all Grouse this species has its nest on the ground. This con- 

 sists of a slight hollow, usually under the shelter of a sage-bush, but 

 sometimes it may be found under a bunch of high grass in the neighbor- 

 hood of some stream or small body of water. Occasionally one may 

 come across a nest containing a slight lining of -grass-blades, or of sage- 

 brush, twigs, or leaves, but more often there is 

 Nest and ... *V i 



E no lining of any character. In number the eggs 



range from six to nine. They are olive-buff, 



or greenish brown in color, and are prettily marked with round spots of 

 dark brown. 



As already intimated the food of the Sage Hen, to a considerable 

 extent, is composed of the leaves of the sagebrush, but the birds also 

 eat other leaves, tender plants, and even blossoms. Grasshoppers, ants, 

 and such other insects as are available are also consumed. I have never 

 heard a farmer complain of a Sage Grouse injuring his growing crops 

 except in rare instances. 



The time has arrived in the history of the Sage Grouse when it is 

 necessary that more restrictive measures should be enacted and enforced 

 for its protection if the bird is to be spared from the fate of the antelope, 

 which at one time existed in great numbers over a large part of the 

 range in which the Sage Grouse still persists. It is true that laws 

 have been enacted for their protection, but these are not adequate, as 

 in Idaho, for instance the birds may be shot for 

 three and a half months, and in Nevada four and 

 a half months each year. This is entirely too 

 long a season, especially when we take into consideration that the bag- 

 limit, or in other words, the number of birds that may legally be 

 killed in a day. in Nevada is ten and in Idaho is twelve. 



The State of Washington has already taken steps in the right 

 direction by permitting an open season of onlv fifteen davs (October 

 15 to November 1), and allowing a bag-limit of only five birds daily. 



Classification and Distribution 



The Sage Grouse belongs to the Order Galline, and the Family Tetraonida. 

 Its scientific name is Centrocercus urophasianus. Its range corresponds very 

 nearly to that portion of North America where the sagebrush grows. It is found 

 in southern British Columbia, southern Alberta, and thence southward through 

 eastern Oregon, Montana, Wyoming, Idaho. Colorado, Nevada, Utah and eastern 

 California. The southern limit of its range is reached when the desert-growth 

 turns from sagebrush to creosote in northern Arizona and New Mexico. It is 

 not migratory. 



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