274 'AMERICAN GAME BIRD SHOOTING 



Columbia. Its eastern range covers parts of North 

 Dakota, and extends thence westward through Mon- 

 tana, Wyoming and Utah to Oregon, California and 

 Nevada. 



The sage grouse is interesting from the fact that it 

 possesses a soft, membranous stomach; in this respect 

 differing from other gallinaceous birds. Its food varies 

 with the seasons, and no doubt in winter the leaves of 

 the so-called sage brush make up the most of this. 



The sage grouse takes its name from this plant, on 

 which, at certain seasons, it feeds extensively. Yet 

 it eats other food, including grain. In Forest and 

 Stream of August 29, 1889, Mr. George H. Wyman 

 says : "The sage cock will eat the leaves from a sage 

 bush when it cannot get berries or grain, but it will go 

 farther for a morning's feed from a wheat field than 

 any bird I know, except the wild geese. I have killed 

 sage fowls with stomachs filled with ripe wheat picked 

 up the same morning in places where none was to be 

 had nearer than eight miles, and in fact with no culti- 

 vation of any kind nearer in any direction. They fly 

 long distances in search of food, but return to roost in 

 the same place at night, generally on some steep hillside, 

 free from shrubs or high grass." This may have been 

 an error, of observation. Very likely there was some 

 unknown source of grain supply nearer at hand. But 

 this, of course, cannot be proved. It is stated by some 

 observers that sage leaves are resorted to only when 

 other food is hard to obtain; but this is a mistake. 

 The leaves and flowers of the sage have been found 



