THE BLACK GUOUSI':, OR BLACK COCK. 489 



adult birds feed mostly on vegetable substauces, such as juiiii)er, ciauberry, and bilberries, and 

 the leaves and buds of several trees. 



The color of the adult male bird is chestnut-brown covered with a number of black lines 

 irregularly dispersed, the breast is black with a gloss of green, and the abdomen is simply 

 black, as are the lengthened feathers of the thi'oat and the tail. The female is easily known l)j' 

 the bars of red and black which traverse the head and neck, and the reddish-yellow barred 

 with bhick of the under surface. In size, the Cai)ercaillie is nearly equal to a turkey. 



The Cock of the Plains is closely allied to the preceding species. 



It is an American bii-d, being found in the dry plains in the interior of Southern California. 

 Like the cock of the woods, this bird is accustomed during the breeding season todis^jort him- 

 self after a peculiar and grotesque mannei', drooping his wings, spreading his tail like a fan, 

 puffing out his crop until the bare yellow skin stands i>roniinently forward, somewhat after 

 the fashion of the pouter pigeon, and erecting the long silken plumes of the neck. Thus 

 accoixtred, he parades the ground with much dignity, turning himself about so as to display 

 liis shape to the best advantage, assuming a variety of rather ludicrous attitudes, and uttering 

 a loud booming cry that is compared to the sound made by blowing strongly into a large 

 hollow reed. 



The nest of this bird is made of dried grasses and small twigs, and is placed on the ground 

 under the shelter of bushes or rank herbage. It is rather carefully made, and generally con- 

 tains from thirteen to seventeen brown eggs Idotched with chocolate on the large end. The 

 Cock of the Plains is a gregarious bird, assembling in little troops in the sumirier and autumn, 

 and in large flocks of several hundred in nuniber during the winter and spring. The flesh of 

 this bird is eatable, but diU'k in color and not of a very good fla\or. 



The male is a very handsome bird, brown on tlie upper surface and mottled with very 

 dark brown and yellowish-wliite. The skin of the croj) is deep orange-yellow, and on each side 

 of it is a tuft of long and very slender feathers, having the shafts nearly naked, and dotted at 

 the tip with a pencil of black bands. The throat and head are white profusely variegated with 

 black, and the white featheis of the sides are firm, rounded, and of a scale-like foi'm. Tlie 

 shafts of the breast-feathers are black and stiff. In total length this biid measures about 

 twenty-two inches. Tin; female is less in size, is without the feather-tufts tm the neck and the 

 scale-like plumage of the sides. 



The Sage Cock (Oentrocercus uropli.asianuii\ or Cock of tlie Plains, is the largest of aU 

 the family. It seems confined to the sterile regions from the Black Hills to California and 

 Oregon, and from British Columbia nearly to Arizona — but only on tiiose idains where the 

 wild sage (ai'temesia) gi-ows — hence, the trivial name of the bird. It is natiu'ally tame, and 

 clumsy, but when really alarmed flies witli great rapidity, and at considerable distance. Its 

 notes strongly resemble those of the common hen. It seems to be partial to open plains, and 

 localities away from the sea-coast. 



Its habits are similar to those of the turkey. In winter it flocks in great numbers ; in the 

 spring it goes in pairs, and in the fall in small family groups. It is abundant on the jjlains of 

 California, and also on the nortli branch of the Platte. 



From feeding so much on the wild sage, its flesh becomes impregnated with a bitter 

 quality, which ruins it for food. The weight of an ordinary-sized Sage Grouse is about six 

 pounds. The large orange-colored, ball-shaped neck ornaments, and the long acuminate tail 

 are characters that are quite distinctive, added to its great size. A very cairious anatomical 

 peculiarity is seen in this species. They have no gizzard, having instead a soft membraneous 

 stomach, which is not cai«d)le of digesting hard food. It is not known to eat grain, but seems 

 to feed wholly on vegetable matter, and that almost exclusively of the wild sage. Possibly 

 the grasshoppers and other soft insects may be eaten. 



The well-known Black Grouse, or Black Cock, is a native of the more southern coun- 

 tries of Europe, especially those localities where the pine woods and heaths afford it shelter, 

 and it is not dislodged by the presence of human habitations. 



Vol. U.-«8. 



