CENTEOCEEGUS UEOEHASIANUS. Swain. 
COCS-OF-THE-PLAINS. SAGE COCK. 
TETRAO UROPHASIANUS. Bon., Zool. Jouru., yoI. iii., Jan., 1828, p. 214.— Ib. Am. Ornitb., vol. iii., 1830, pi. xxi., fig. 1.— Ib. Mon. Tetrao, 
Trans. Am. Phil. Soc., N. S., vol. iii., 1830, p. 390. — Ib. Geog. and Comp. List Birds, p. 44, No. 287. — Doug., Trans. Linn. Soc., vol. 
xvi., 1829, p. 133. — Nutt., Man., vol. i., 1832, p. 666. — And., Ornitb. Biog., vol. iv., 1838, p. 503, pi. 371. — Ib. Syn., p. 205. — Ib. 
Birds of Amer., vol. v., 1842, p. 106, pi. 297. — ^Newb., Zool. Cal. and Or. Route, Rep. P. R. R. Surv., vol. vi., 1857, p. 95. — Gray, 
Gen. of Birds, vol. iii. 
TETRAO (CENTROCERCUS) UROPHASIANUS. Swain and Rich., Faun. Bor. Amer., vol. ii., 1831, p. 358, pi. Iviii. 
CENTROCERCUS UROPHASIANUS. Baird, U. S. P. R. R. Exp. Exped., vol. iv., p. 624.— Gray, Cat. Birds, Brit. Mus., part iii., p. 46, 1844. 
— Cooper and Suckb, Nat. Hist. Wash. Territ., p. 222. — ^Jard., Game Birds, Nat. Libr. Birds, vol. iv., p. 140, pi. xvii. — EUiot, 
Proceed. Acad. Nat. Scien. (1864), p. 
TETRAO PHASIANELLUS. Ord. Guth. Geog., 2d Am. edit., vol. ii., 1815, p. 317. 
COCK-OP-THE-PLAINS. Lewis and Clark, vol. ii., p. 180, sp. 2. 
This splendid bird, for its great size, stands pre-eminently in the front rank of the American Grouse, and is only exceeded in that particular, 
among aU the members of this family, by the stately European Cock-of-tbe-Woods {Tetrao TTrogallus), and its near ally {T. TIrogalloides). 
The Sage Cock is never observed in the eastern portion of our continent, but dwells on the vast plains which lie on both sides of the Rocky 
Mountains, and wherever, on those almost endless tracts, the Sage Bush {Artemisia Tridentata) grows, there the Cock-of-the-Plaius abounds. 
The flight of this species is strong, and, at times, weU sustained ; it rises with the loud whir-r-r peculiar to this class of birds, and progresses 
by alternate flapping and sailing, generally in a straight line, until hidden by a hill or lost to the eye in the far distance. The courting season 
commences in the early spring, generally March or beginning of April. At such times, about sunrise, the male, perched upon some hiUock, 
lowers his wings until the primaries rest upon the ground, spreads out his tail like a fan, and with the gular sacks inflated to a prodigious 
size, and head drawn back, he struts up and down before the admiring gaze of the assembled hens ; then lowering his head until it is on a 
level with his body, he exhausts the air contained in the sacks, producing a loud grating noise resembling Imrr-lmrr-r-r-hoo, ending in a 
“ deep, hollow tone, not unlike the sound produced by blowing into a large reed.” It is in this position I have endeavored to represent the 
male in the plate. The nest, formed of twigs and grass, is always placed upon the ground, near the bank of some stream, or sheltered by 
low bushes. The hen lays about fifteen or sixteen eggs, of a dark brown color, spotted on the larger end with chocolate. In about three 
weeks the chicks appear, and, like all of this family, run as soon as they are hatched, deserting the vicinity of the nest in a few hours. 
During the summer and autumn these Grouse go in small flocks, sometimes only in pairs ; but in the winter and spring they congregate in 
immense packs, to the number of several hundreds, and roam over the prairies in quest of subsistence. Their food consists chiefly of the leaves 
of the Artemisia, which, being very bitter, renders their flesh strong, and at times utterly unfit to eat, thus often depriving, some hungry traveller 
on the plains of what promised him a delicious and savory meal. In the autumn, according to Nuttall, they frequent the streams of the 
Columbia River, where they feed on the Rulpy-leaved-Thoru ; at which time they are considered good food by the natives, who take great 
quantities of them in nets. 
Dr. Suckley, in his “ Natural History of Washington Territory,” speaking of this bird, says: “1 have dissected these Grouse in situations 
where there was abundance of grass seeds, wild grain, grasshoppers, and other kinds of food that a person would imagine would be readily 
eaten by them, yet I have failed to obtain a single particle of any other article of food in their full stomachs than the leaves of the Artemisia. 
This food must either be highly preferred, or else be essential to their existence. They seem to have the faculty of doing a long time without 
water, as I have found them in habitually dry, desert situations, during severe droughts, a long distance from water. I have found this bird 
most abundant on the southern slope of the Blue Mountains in the vicinity of Powder River. Here there are immense desert Sage plains, 
well adapted to the species in every respect. The bird hides well, and lies close, frequently allowing a man’s approach to within a few feet.” 
With the following very interesting account of the Sage Cock, I close my article on this species. It is taken from the report upon the 
zoology of the route for a railroad to the Pacific Ocean by Dr. J. S. Newberry : “ This is the largest of the American Grouse, the male some- 
times weighing from five to six pounds. It is when in full plumage rather a handsome bird, at least decidedly better looking than any figure 
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