CHAPTER VII. 
THE SAGE COCK, 
The sage cock—Its range, weight, and color—A peculiar gizzard —Bit- 
ter taste of the flesh, and how tu remedy it—Can go a long time 
without water—Never flies to trees—Tries to escape by skulking— 
Strong on the wing—Very tame—The pairing season—The wooing 
song—Pompous lovers—The nest and young—Brave mothers—Ene- 
mies—Large packs. 
The Sage Cock (Centrocercus urophasianus), which is 
a denizen of the region lying between Western Kansas 
and the Sierra Nevada and Cascade Ranges, is the larg- 
est of the American grouse, an adult male frequently at- 
taining a length of thirty inches, and a weight varying 
from three to seven pounds. The female is much smaller, 
her average length being about two feet, and her weight 
three or four pounds. The tail is composed of twenty 
acuminate feathers, and equals or exceeds the wing in 
length; on each side of the neck are very large, dilatable 
air-sacs of naked yellow skin, which are bordered by a 
patch of curiously-stiffened corneous feathers, that re- 
semble fish scales somewhat, and frequently end in long, 
bristly filaments. 
The color of the upper parts of the body is a mixture 
of black, brown, and yellowish-gray; the sides of the 
lower part of the neck are whitish; and the lower por- 
tions of the breast and abdomen are black. The female 
and chickens differ slightiy from this hue, and are de- 
ficient in the rigid neck-feathers of the males. The 
sexes can be readily distinguished apart ata glance by 
their size and markings, and their attitude when walk- 
ing or staring. Old hunters say that this species has no 
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