84 GALLINACEOUS BIRDS— GROUSE 



fall dead. When I picked him up I found that I had 

 a very heavy bird, weighing at least six or seven 

 pounds. Its general color was gray, with a large 

 black patch below. It had a long tail of stiff feathers 

 and tufts of white on the shoulders. It was three 

 times as large as any grouse I had ever seen on the 

 prairies, but I suspected the truth — it was the sage- 

 cock, or cock of the plains, the largest grouse in the 

 world save the capercailzie of Europe. 



Hanging my prize to the saddle I remounted and 

 rode about in the sage hoping to have another shot, 

 but the bird was solitary, or I failed to move his com- 

 panion. Shortly afterward a large animal bounded out 

 of the sage and made off with tremendous leaps. An 

 antelope, thought I, as I made a snap shot at it, but 

 when I picked it up the extremely long ears made it 

 evident that I had bagged the jack, or jackass rabbit, 

 the animal which had been recently exploited by Mark 

 Twain in *' Roughing It." When I arrived at our 

 camp my identification of both species was verified, 

 but neither the cook nor the plainsmen who acted as 

 our guides seemed to regard my performance as he- 

 roic as could be desired. 



I soon learned that in the presence of larger game, 

 such as the elk and mule-deer, neither the sage-cock 

 nor the jack-rabbit were regarded as worthy marks or 

 as desirable food. 



There has been much controversy as to the merits 

 of the sage-cock on the table, and I had occasion to 

 review the authorities, as the lawyers say, on this point 

 in a former work. All shades of opinion will be there 

 found expressed, in terms varying from " quinine 



