CENTROCERCUS UROPHASIANUS. 
yet given of it. The female is smaller than the male, and of a monotonous sober brown ; but the male, brown above, is handsomely marked 
with black and white on the neck, breast, and wings, and has a distinctive character in the spaces of bare orange-colored skin which occupy the 
sides of the neck. These spaces are usually concealed by the feathers, but are susceptible of inflation to a great size, and, when strutting 
in parade before the females, the neck is pufied out like that of the pouter pigeon. This bird does not inhabit the valleys of California, 
but belongs to the fauna of the interior basin, or, more probably, to the Rocky Mountain fauna — ^that of the dry, desert country lying on both 
flanks of the Rocky Mountain chain. We first met with it high up on Pit River, at the point where we left it, and crossed over to the lakes. 
Coming into camp at evening, I had been attracted by a white chalk-like bluff, some two miles to the right of our trail, which I visited and 
examined. Near it was a warm spring, which came out of the hillside, and spreading over the prairie, kept a few acres green and fresh, 
strongly contrasting with the universal brown of the landscape. In this little oasis, I found some, to me, new flowers, many reptiles, and a 
considerable number of Sharp-tailed Grouse, of which I killed several ; the whole presenting attractions sufficiently strong — as we were to 
remain encamped one day — to take me over there early next morning. I had filled my plant case with flowers, had obtained frogs and snakes 
and chalky, infusorial earth enough to load down the boy who accompanied me, and had enjoyed a fine morning’s sport, dropping as many 
Grouse on the prairies as we could conveniently carry. Following up the little stream toward the spring on the hillside, a dry, treeless 
surface, with patches of 'sage bushes’ [Artemisia Tridentata), I was suddenly startled by a great flutter and rush, and a dark bird, that 
appeared to me as large as a turkey, rose from the ground near me, and uttering a hoarse lieh, liek, flew off with an irregular, but a remark- 
ably well-sustained flight. I was just then stooping to drink from the little stream, and quite unprepared for game of any kind, least of all 
for such a bird, evidently a Groiise, but so big and black, so far exceeding all reasonable dimensions, that I did not think of shooting him, but 
stood with open eyes, and, doubtless, open mouth, eagerly watching his flight to mark him down. But stop he did not, so long as I could 
see him, now flapping, now sailing, he kept on his course, till he disappeared behind a hill a mile away. I was of course greatly chagrined 
by his escape; but knowing that, given one Grouse, it is usually not difficidt to find another, I commenced looking about for the mate of the 
one I had lost. My search was not a long one ; almost immediately she rose from under a sage bush, with a noise like a whirlwind, not to 
fly a mile before stopping to look around, as the cock had done, but, by a foz’tunate shot, falling helpless to the ground. No deerstalker 
ever felt more triumphant enthusiasm while standing over the prostrate body of a buck, or fisherman, when the silvery sides of a salmon 
sparkled in his landing net, than I felt, as I picked up this great and, to me, unknown bird. I afterward ranged the hillsides for hours, with 
more or less success, waging a war on these birds, which I found to be quite abundant, but very strong-winged and difficult to kill. I repeatedly 
flushed them not more than ten yards from me, and, as they rose, poured my whole charge right and left into them, knocking out feathers, 
perhaps, but not killing the bird, which, in defiance of all my hopes and expectations, would carry off my shot to such a distance that I could 
not follow him, even did I know he would never rise again. Here as elsewhere I found these birds confined to the vicinity of the ' sage bushes,’ 
from under which they are usually sprung. 
"A few days later, on the shores of Wright and Rhett lakes, we found them very abundant, and killed all we cared to. A very fine male 
which I killed there was passed by nearly the whole party within thirty feet in open ground. I noticed him perhaps as soon as he saw us, 
and waited to watch his movements. As the train approached, he sank down on the ground, depressing his head, and lying as motionless as 
a stick or root, which he greatly resembled. After the party had passed, I moved toward him, when he depressed his head till it rested 
on the ground, and evidently made himself as small as possible. He did not move till I had approached to within fifteen feet of him, when 
he arose and I shot him. He was in fine plumage, and weighed over five pounds. We continued to meet with the Sage Hen, whenever we 
crossed sage plains, till we reached the Columbia. To the westward of the Cascade range this bird probably does not exist, as all its habits 
and preferences seem to fit it for the occupancy of the sterile and anhydrous regions of the central desert. Its flesh is dark and, particularly 
in old birds, highly flavored with wormwood, which to most persons is no proof of excellence. The young bird, if parboiled and stewed, is 
very good ; but, as a whole, this is inferior for the table to any other species of Amei’ican Grouse.” 
Among the specimens before me, is a very curious hybrid, between this species and Pedlaecaeies Columhianus. It was obtained by Mr. 
John Pearson, on the military road from the WaUa Walla River to Fort Benton, and is marked on its label as No. 17,666 of the Smithsonian 
Institution collection. It is about the size of the Sharp-tail Grouse, but has the characteristic markings of the Sage Hen upon its head, 
neck, wings, and tail. The range of this species seems to be restricted to the desert plains which extend on both sides of the Rocky Mountains, 
and these birds are always more abundant wherever the Artemisia grows. The male may be described as follows ; General color of back, light 
brown, each feather mottled and crossed irregularly with black and dark brown, and having also three bars of yellowish white, one near the 
tip, the other two higher up, equidistant from each other. The first of these is often almost obsolete. Some of the feathers in the centre of 
the back have broad bars of black, which cross and include the shaft, appearing like blotches upon the lighter ground color. This confused 
irregular marking extends throughout the upper tail coverts, and includes the two centre tail feathers. The tail is cuneate, longer than the 
wings, composed of twenty feathers, acute and graduated, and with the exception of the two centre ones, is of a dark brown color, crossed 
with irregular yellowish white lines, becoming fewmr and at greater distances apart, upon the outer feathers. Upper part of head and neck 
crossed with zig-zag black and dark brown lines on a white ground in a very irregular manner. The wings are of a lighter brown than the 
back, crossed similarly with black, but having the shafts of the feathers all white, making them very conspicuous. The primaries are a dark 
brown, lighter on their outer webs, with dark brown shafts. The throat and under part of the neck is black interspersed with white lines 
and spots. A white band crosses the lower part of the neck, and extends over the sides, covering the position of the gular sacks. The feathers 
on this portion, especially those on the side, are very rigid, overlapping each other like scales, and in some specimens crackle like parchment 
when the hand is passed over them. The upper part of the breast is white, with the shafts black and stiff. The entire under parts, from the 
breast, are black, the under tail coverts black tipped with white. The black of the belly has a border of white blotched with black, while the 
flanks are mottled like the back. The feathers of the thighs and tarsi are light brown, mottled with a darker brown. The bill is thick and 
strong, black, wuth the nasal fossse extending nearly two thirds its length. The female resembles the male, but is smaller, and is without the gular 
sacks. The black of the lower parts is not so extensive, neither are the stiffened shafts of the neck feathers so conspicuous, while the bars 
and mottling of the upper parts is much greater. 
The plate .represents a male and female about three fourths the natural size. Different specimens, particularly among the males, vary con- 
siderably in size, some being nearly half as large again as the one represented. 
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