SHOOTING THE PRAIRIE GROUSE 417 



clumsy and lumbering in its efforts to escape, that one 

 hardly gives it credit for game qualities. It is a splen- 

 did bird, however, and its great size makes it a trophy 

 of the shotgun eagerly to be sought after. 



The range of the sage grouse is commonly believed 

 to be coterminous with that of the plant whose name 

 it bears. Though often seen in localities where no 

 sage is actually visible, it never, we think, occurs far 

 from the region where fhe plant is found. It is at home 

 alike where the stunted shrubs of the wormwood grow 

 only two or three inches high, or in valleys of the great 

 central plateau where they are real trees, as high as 

 one's head. In cover such as this the traveler may 

 often ride up on a great flock of the birds, which are 

 usually so unsuspicious that they will stand for some 

 time before taking alarm. 



When the birds do rise they get up heavily, with a 

 lumbering flight; but after they have acquired momen- 

 tum they go much faster than one would suppose, and 

 it is easy to shoot behind crossing birds, whose great 

 size often tends to make the shooter careless. 



Inhabiting, as it does, a region of extreme aridity, 

 and because the shooting season comes at the dryest 

 period of the year, dogs would be at a great disad- 

 vantage in the pursuit of this bird, and I personally 

 have never seen them used in this shooting. The bird 

 is large, it inhabits the open, and is readily seen at 

 some little distance. Though often unsuspicious, yet 

 as the season advances, or in places where they have 

 been shot, or much disturbed, they will often rise at 



