SAGE GROUSE. 

 Centrocercus urophasianus. 



The sage grouse may always be recognized by its 

 great size and by the fact that its tail is longer than 

 the wings, and is graduated, with narrow pointed 

 quills. The upper plumage is gray, variously marked 

 and streaked with black. Some of the tertiary feathers 

 are tipped with white or streaked with white ; the chin, 

 cheeks and throat are spotted black and white, but there 

 is usually a distinct white streak on the side of the 

 head running a short way back of the eye. The neck 

 is black in front, while the fore breast is white or 

 grayish, and on either side of the lower neck in the 

 whitish areas are stiff, coarse hair-like feathers. The 

 belly is black, and the lower tail coverts black tipped 

 with white. The male is from 26 to 30 inches long, 

 with a wing of from 12 to 13 inches, and a tail about 

 the same length. The birds weigh from 4 to 8 pounds. 

 The female is much smaller; has the chin and throat 

 white and the black patch on the front of the neck 

 speckled. Half-grown birds are browner than their 

 parents, with a warmer tone of rufous in their plumage, 

 more like the young of the dusky grouse. The length 

 of the female is from 20^2 to 23 inches. 



Excepting the wild turkey, the sage hen, as it is often 

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