24 GROUSE AND WILD TURKEYS OF UNITED STATES. 
on the sides of his neck until they hx)k like small oranges, and then 
goes through a droll performance, throwing himself forward on his 
breast and j^lowing along tlie gi'onnd until the breast feathers are 
almost (•onii)letely worn away. 'J'he hen is captivated by these 
grotesque antics, and in due time chooses a mate and nests in a small 
depression in the ground under the shelter of a bush, where she lays 
about ten olive-biitl' eggs with chocolate markings. The cock leaves 
hei- before incubation begins, and in about three weeks the chicks are 
out. A young covey roosts in a circle on the ground, bobwhite- 
fashion. In winter, coveys unite in packs which sometimes number 
;i hundred or more. 
FOOD HABITS. 
The feeding habits of the sage grouse are peculiar, and its organs 
of digestion are unlike those of other grouse. The stomach is not 
differentiated into a powerful grinding gizzard, but is a thin, weak, 
membranous bag, resembling the stomach of a raptorial bird. Such 
an organ is evidentl}^ designed for the digestion of soft food, and we 
find that the bulk of the sage grouse's diet consists of leaves and 
tender shoots. A stomach collected September 7, 1890, in Idaho, by 
Dr. C. Hart Merriam, contained leaves of sage and other plants, 
seeds, and a ladybird beetle {C occinellid(v) . Four birds shot in 
Wyoming during May and September by Vernon Bailey had gorged 
themselves with the leaves of sagebrush {Artemisia tri(lentata). 
This and other sages, including A. cana and A. frigid a^ furnish the 
bulk of the food of the sage grouse. Other food is taken, but it is 
comparatively insignificant. B. H. Dutcher, formerly of the Bio- 
logical Survey, examined a stomach which, besides sagebrush leaves, 
contained seeds, flowers, buds of Rhus triloh((ta, and ants and grass- 
hoppers. Three birds collected by Vernon Bailey on September 5, 
in Wyoming, had varied their sagebrush fare with ladybird *l)eetles, 
ground beetles {Carahida^) . fly larva^, ants, moths, grasshoppers 
{Melanoplns sp.), and the leaves of asters and yarrow. Of two birds 
killed in May, one had fed wholly on the leaves of sagebrush {Arte- 
misia tridentata) , Avhile the other in addition had taken insect galls 
from sagebrush and the flowers and flower buds of a phlox {PJdox 
doti(/laKii)^ together with some undetermined seed capsules, pieces of 
moss, and several ants. A third bird, killed in July, had eaten a 
few ])lant stems and numei'ous grasshoppers. 
Major Bendire writes that the diet of the sage grouse includes 
grass spikes, the tops of leguminous plants, including blossoms and 
j)ods of vetch {Vieia) and astragalus; also, that the bird eats golden- 
rod, and will go far to get a morning feed of Avheat. He notes that 
also berries, grasshoppers, and crickets {Anahrus simplex) are eaten.** 
"Life Hist. X. A. Hinls, |I|. i))). 107-108, 1802 
m 
