BULLETIN NUMBER FIVE 193 



tomisia) . Often its flesh tastes so strongly of sage that it 

 is inedible, but unfortunately for the bird, this is not al- 

 ways nor everywhere the case. Of course this bird nests 

 on the ground, in the shelter of the sage-brush and grease- 

 wood; and its eggs vary in number from 13 to 17. 



This bird has one striking anatomical peculiarity. It has 

 no gizzard. Its soft, membranous stomach is not qualified 

 for the digesting of hard foods, and it is not a grain eater ; 

 but it does eat the leaves of green alfalfa. Of insect food 

 it consumes grasshoppers, and no doubt many other species. 



DISTRIBUTION OF THE SAGE GROUSE. 



The following states still contain remnants of sage 

 grouse, and to them this call is specially addressed : 



Colorado 



Nevada 



Wyoming 



Oregon 



Montana 



Washington 



Idaho 



California 



Utah 



North Dakota 





South Dakota 



The accompanying map shows only the present area in- 

 habited by the sage grouse. It must not be supposed, how- 

 ever, even for a moment, that all the area marked as in- 

 habited possesses this bird. In most places throughout the 

 states credited, the sage grouse exists only in small and 

 widely-separated shreds and patches, as minute fragments 

 of a once great stock. In all probability only one-fiftieth 

 of the original area of the sage grouse still contains it in 

 any form, and it is a safe guess that now there is not more 

 than one bird to every twenty-five that existed no more 

 than forty years ago. I have no doubt that many old resi- 

 dents of the sage grouse country will place their local esti- 

 mates for today at not more than 1 to 100. 



In many localities still containing what chemists call "a 

 trace" of grouse, it is fearfully certain that the existing 



