. The gallinaceous game birds of North America, including the partridges, grouse, ptarmigan, and wild turkeys .. . ion when the sage bushesbecome hidden beneath great falls of snow, compelling itto seek other localities with less elevation. The Cock ofthe Plains is rarely met with far fromthe localities coveredby the sage bush, for the leaves of this plant appear to bea necessity for its existence. Although its crop mayshow that other food has been swallowed, yet the majorportion of the contents will always be sage leaves, andthese impart a very bitter and disagreeable taste to theflesh, if th
. The gallinaceous game birds of North America, including the partridges, grouse, ptarmigan, and wild turkeys .. . ion when the sage bushesbecome hidden beneath great falls of snow, compelling itto seek other localities with less elevation. The Cock ofthe Plains is rarely met with far fromthe localities coveredby the sage bush, for the leaves of this plant appear to bea necessity for its existence. Although its crop mayshow that other food has been swallowed, yet the majorportion of the contents will always be sage leaves, andthese impart a very bitter and disagreeable taste to theflesh, if the bird is not drawn immediately after it is these leaves, this species feeds on insects, berries,wild pease, the pods and blossoms of various plants, andgrain. Its stomach is a soft and membranous bag, and it has,properly speaking, no gizzard. This would seem to indi-cate that the bird was not a grain feeder, but individualshave been killed whose stomachs were filled with wheat,showing that, in spite of a lack of grinding power, thebird is able to digest grain. Its diet, however, is chiefly 136. -i^- KV^i->u i* juy |j avc\._ 30. Sage Grouse. SAGE GROUSE. 137 leaves and the tender portions of plants. It is a hardybird, bearing the extremes of heat and cold apparentlywithout inconvenience, and I have seen it walkingleisurely about under the rays of a torrid sun, or exposedto the fierce, keen blasts of a December storm thatwould make most creatures seek the nearest shelter. During the blizzards and other heavy storms that sofrequently sweep over the country it inhabits, the SageCock takes refuge amid the dense clumps of the sagebushes, or in the coulees or small valleys that inter-sect the plains at intervals, where it obtains sufificientprotection from the blasts. Although this species is solarge, its plumage harmonizes so well with the birdssurroundings that it is at times exceedingly diffi-cult to see it, and it is not an unusual occurrence to passwithin a few
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Keywords: ., boo, bookcentury1800, bookdecade1890, booksubjectgameandgamebirds
