THE SAGE GROUSE NEARLY EXTINCT 



119 



from side to side, and note the effort of the wings to carry the 

 bird, and maintain a true balance. 



The male has an air-sac on each side of its neck, which 

 it inflates in the courting season, when it struts to attract the 



SAGE GROUSE. 



attention of the females. Recently Mr. Frank Bond has ob- 

 served that the male also rubs its breast along the ground, as a 

 part of its strutting performance, which accounts for the 

 mysteriously worn condition of the breast feathers. 



It is no more necessary to describe a Sage Grouse than an 



