SAGE GROUSF. 



139 



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utter a loud kck-kck-kck, which kind of cackle is kept up 

 for quite a considerable time. They seem to have diffi- 

 culty in getting well on the wing, and rise heavily, wab- 

 bling from side to side as if trying to gain an equilibrium, 

 but once started they go far and fast enough, with inter- 

 mittent quick beats of the pinions and easy sailing on 

 motionless wings. 



As a rule the Sage Grouse is not very wild, and a 

 covey, when anyone draws near, will at first walk quietly 

 along, frequently within easy gunshot, and it is not until 

 they are persistently followed, or one suddenly dashes 

 into a covey, that they take wing. It requires a hard 

 blow to bring them down, and large shot are necessary to 

 kill them, for they are capable, even if severely wounded, 

 of carrying away large quantities of lead, and will fly a 

 long distance, probably not stopping until life is extinct. 

 The number in a covey is usually small, much less than is 

 observed in many other species of Grouse, ranging, ac- 

 cording to my observation, from seven to ten, often not 

 over five or six. These are probably the survivors of the 

 original brood which has been decimated by adverse 

 weather, such as heavy storms and wet seasons, during 

 which many chicks succumb to the onslaught of various 

 enemies b^th furred and feathered, not to mention man, 

 the most destructive enemy of all. 



In the winter the coveys gather together in great packs; 

 sometimes a hundred birds are assembled in one immense 

 flock, and great is the commotion and loud the whirring 

 and beating of wings and vociferous cackling when from 

 any cause they rise in the air. The members of a family 

 roost in a circle on the ground, in the manner described 

 in the article on Bob White, so that in case of alarm each 

 great bird has a fair way of escape directly in front of 

 him, without danger of being impeded or incommoded 



