364 
The Sage Grouse 
Nest and 
Eggs 
oblivion for which some game-birds are famous. As will be seen from 
the above their courtship is rather a display than a 'p\3.y’ thus differing 
from the performance of the Sharp-tailed Grouse, which is described 
under that bird.” 
Lvike all Grouse this species has its nest on the ground. This con- 
sists of a slight hollow, usually under the shelter of a sage-bush, but 
sometimes it may be found under a bunch of high grass in the neighbor- 
hood of some stream or small body of water. Occasionally one may 
come across a nest containing a slight lining of grass-blades, or of sage- 
brush, twigs, or leaves, but more often there is 
no lining of any character. In number the eggs 
range from six to nine. They are olive-buff, 
or greenish brown in color, and are prettily marked with round spots of 
dark brown. 
As already intimated the food of the Sage Hen, to a considerable 
extent, is composed of the leaves of the sagebrush, but the birds also 
eat other leaves, tender plants, and even blossoms. Grasshoppers, ants, 
and such other insects as are available are also consumed. I have never 
heard a farmer complain of a Sage Grouse injuring his growing crops 
except in rare instances. 
The time has arrived in the history of the Sage Grouse when it is 
necessary that more restrictive measures should be enacted and enforced 
for its protection if the bird is to be spared from the fa4e of the antelope, 
which at one time existed in great numbers over a large part of the 
range in which the Sage Grouse still persists. It is true that laws 
have been enacted for their protection, but these are not adequate, as 
in Idaho, for instance the birds may be shot for 
three and a half months, and in Nevada four and 
a half months each year. This is entirely too 
long a season, especially when we take into consideration that the bag- 
limit, or in other words, the number of birds that may legally be 
killed in a day, in Nevada is ten and in Idaho is twelve. 
The State of Washington has already taken steps in the right 
direction by permitting an open season of only fifteen days (October 
15 to November 1), and allowing a bag-limit of only five birds daily. 
Protection 
Needed 
Classification and Distribution 
The Sage Grouse belongs to the Order Gallincc, and the Family Tetraonidce. 
Its scientific name is Centrocercus urophasianus. Its range corresponds very 
nearly to that portion of North America where the sagebrush grows. It is found 
in southern British Columbia, southern Alberta, and thence southward through 
eastern Oregon, Montana, Wyoming, Idaho, Colorado, Nevada, Utah and eastern 
California. The southern limit of its range is reached when the desert-growth 
turns from sagebrush to creosote in northern Arizona and New Mexico. It is 
not migratory. 
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