110 LIFE HISTORIES OP NOETH AMEBIC AN BIEDS. 



mass was discerned blending' pei-fectly with the color of the bush, which 

 outlined itself into the form of a Sage Hen not 2 feet from my foot. She 

 certainly would have been overlooked had not the movement of her eyelids 

 attracted my attention. I stood there fully five minutes admiring the beauti- 

 ful bird, which could have been caught in my butterfly net, then walked 

 back and forth, and finally passed around the bush to observe it from 

 behind. Not until then did it become frightened and fly away with a loud 

 cackling. The nest was a depression at the foot of a sage bush, lined with 

 dead grass and sage leaves. The spot was marked and visited several times, 

 always passing within a few feet without alarming the bird." 



Incubation, I think, lasts about twenty-two days. The males take no 

 part whatever in this duty, and keep to themselves till the young are grown. 

 Many attain their full growth by the 1st of August. Young Sage Fowls are 

 excellently flavored, superior in my opinion to either the Sooty Grouse or the 

 Columbian Sharp-tailed Grouse, always provided that they are drawn at 

 once after being shot. The female is devoted to her young, and will protect 

 them at the risk of her life. They are very expert at hiding themselves, in 

 the manner of young Ruffed Grouse. 



Mr. William G. Smith writes me as follows: "While collecting in Carbon 

 County, Wyoming, I caught six young Sage Chickens, probably about four 

 days old, on June 10. The female flew at my legs, and followed me 200 

 yards to where my wagon was standing, constantly making hostile demon- 

 strations, while the young kept calling." 



Their ordinary alarm note, uttered usually only when about to take wing, 

 is a sort of cackle "ktik kak." Frequently, when they believe that they have 

 not been observed or noticed, tliey will quietly sneak away, crouching low 

 and running fairly fast. Their flight, after they are once started, is quick and 

 often quite protracted, sailing long distances without any movement of the 

 wings, in the manner of the Sharp-tailed Grouse. 



These birds always roost on the ground, and usually in the same place, 

 as can be seen from the amount of droppings met with in certain favorite 

 localities. On only a single occasion liave I seen three of these birds sitting 

 on a horizontal limb of a juniper, about 2 feet from the ground, which was 

 then covered witli about a- foot of snow. 



Mr. George Bird Grinnell writes me about the habits of these birds as 

 follows: "On a very few occasions I have seen the Sage Grouse standing on 

 the branches of a sage bush, sometimes 2 or 3 feet from the ground, but I 

 imagine that this is quite an unusual position for the bird. This species, com- 

 monly, I think, goes to water twice a day, flying down to the springs and 

 creek bottoms to drink in the evening, then feeding away a shoi't distance, 

 but roosting near at hand. In the morning they drink again, and spend the 

 middle of the day on the upland. The young birds, when feeding together, 

 constantly call to one another with a low peeping cry, which is audible only 

 for a short distance. This habit I have noticed in several other species of our 

 Grouse, notably in the Dusky Grouse and the Sharp-tail. 



