yet given of it. Tlic female is smaller than the male, and of a monotonous sober brown; but tho male, brown above, is handsomely marked
with black and white ou tho neck, breast, and wings, nnd has a distinctive character in tho spaces of bare oraugo-colored skin whicli occupy the
sides of the neck. These spaces are usually coiiccaleil by tbe feathers, but are susceptible of inflation to a great size, ami, when strutting
in parade before the female.«, the neck is puffed out like tlmt of the pouter pigeon, This bird does uot inhabit the vnlloys of Cnliforiiia,
but belongs to tho fauna of the interior basin, or, more probably, to the Rocky Wonnlaiii faima—timt of the dry, desert eonntry lying on both
flanks of the Rocky Sfonntain chain. We fii-st met. with it high n)> on Pit River, nt the point where we left it, ami cros.«.ed over to the lakes.
Coming into camp a t evening, I had been attracted by a ivhitc chalk-like l.luff, soiim two miles to tho right of our trail, which I visited ami
examined. Near it was a ivarm spring, wbich came out of the hillside, and spreading over the prairie, kept a few acres green ami fresh,
strongly contrasting with tlie iinivcrsal broivn of the lamlseajic. In this little oasis, I fonnd some, to ino, now floivore, many reptiles, and a
considerable number of Sharp-tailed Grouse, of which I kiilcd several; tho whole presenting attractions sumciently strong—as we were to
remuiii encamped one day—to take mo over there early next morning, I had filled my )>lant case with flowei-a, Imd ohtahicd fi'ogs and snakes
aud chalky, infusorial earth enough to load down the boy who accompanied me, ami had enjoyed a (iiic morning's sport, ilroiipiiii
Grouse on the prairies as wo could conveniently carry. Following np tho little stream toward the sjiriiig on the hillside, a dry, t.v,.koo
surface, with patches of ‘sage bushes’ (Artemisia mdcHtala),! was suddenly startled by a great flutter ami rush, and a dark bird, that
appeared to me a.« large as a turkey, rose from the ground near me. ami uttering a hoarse h,k, h.k. fleiv off with an irregular, but a remarkably
well-sustained flight, I was jnst then stooping to drink from the little stream, and (inite iinpre|>iired for game of any kind, least of all
for such a bird, cvidciitiy a Grouse, but so big and blaek, so far exceeding nil rcnsoiiablo dimensions, tlmt I did not think of shooting him, but
stood with open eyes, aud, itonbtlcss, open raontli, eagerly watching his flight to mark him down. Hut stop be did not, so long ns 1 could
see him, now flapping, now sailing, lie kept on his coni-se, till he disaji],eared behind n hill a mile awny, I was of coni-se greatly chagrined
by his escape; but knowing that, given one Grouse, it is nsualiy not difficnlt to find atiollicv, I coinincnced looking a b o n t/o r the mate of the
one I had lost. My search was not a long one; nlmost immediately she rose from under a sago bush, with a noise liko a whirlwind, uot to
fly n mile before stopping to look around, as tho cock had done, but, by a fcrtniiate shot, falling helpless to the grouml. No .leei'stalkcr
ever felt more trinmplmnt enthusiasm while standing over the prostrate body of a buck, or ftshonnan, when the silverv sides of a salmon
sparkled in his lamliiig net, than I felt, as I ¡licked u). this great and, to me, unknown bird. I afterward ranged the hillsides for hours, ivith
more or le.ss siicccs.«, waging a ivar on these birds, which 1 found to be quite abundant, but very strong-winged and difficult to kill. I ropenteiily
flushed them not more than ten yards from me, ami, as they rose, poured my ivholo charge right nnd left into thorn, knocking out feathers,
perhaps, hut uot killing the bird, which, in deflancc of all my lio(ics and expectations, would carry off my shot to such a distance tliat I conid
uot follow him, even did I know ho would never rise again. Here as cLsewhere I found these birds confined to the vicinity of tho ■ sage bushes,’
from under which they are usually sprung.
0 found them very abundant, and kiilcd all ive cared to. A very fim
'’ A few days later, on the shores of Wright and Rhctt lakes, i
wliich 1 kilted thcro v
s passed by nearly the whole party within thirty feet iu opon ground. I noticed him perhaps i
and waited to watch his movcinciits. As the train approached, he sank down on the ground, dcpres«iiig his head, and lying as inotionle.s.s as
a stick or root, ivhicli ho greatly resembled. After the party had passed. I moved toward him, when he deprcs.«cd his head till it rested
on the ground, and evidently umde himself as sm.all as possible. He did not move till I liad approached to within fifteen feet of him, when
he arose and I shot him. He was in line plumage, and wciglicd over five pounds. Wc contiiined to meet with tlic Sage Hen, whenever wc
crossed sage plains, fill wc readied the Columbia, 'fo the westward of the Caseailc range this bird probably does not exist, as all its linhits
ami iireferences seem to fit it for the occu¡iancy of tbe sterile and anhydrous regions of tho central desert. Its flesh is dark and, particularly
in old hiiiLs, highly flavored with wormivood, whicli fo most persons is no proof of exceUcncc. The yonng bird, if imrboilcd nml stewed, is
very good ; but, ns a wbole, this is inferior for tho table to any other species of American Grouse.”
Among tlie specimens before me, is a very curious hybrid, between this s¡iccios and Pediaecaetcs O^/umbianus. It was obtained by Mr.
John Pearson, on the military road from the Walla Walla River to Fort Benton, and is marked on its label a;
Iiistitiitioii collection. I t is about the s
3 No. 17,6CC of the Smithsonian
:c of the Sharp-tail Grouse, but has the characteristic markings of the Sage lieu upon it-s head,
neck, wings, and tail. The range of this species seems to bo restricted to tbe desert ¡ilains which extend on both sides of the Rocky Mountains,
aud these birds are always more nbuiidant wherever the Arftmisin grows. The male nuiy be described as follows; General color of back, light
brown, each feather mottled ami crossed irregularly with black and dark brown, and having also three bare of yellowish white, o
tip, the other two higher up, equidistant from each otlicr. Tho Iirst of these is often almost obsolete. Some of the feathers in the centre of
the back have broad bars of blaek, which cro.«s and include the sliaft, api.earing like blotches upon the lighter ground color, This confused
irregular marking extends throughout the iqipcr tail coverts, and includes the two centre tail feathera, The tail is cnncate, longer than the
wings, coin,,osed of twenty featlicre, 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 fewer and a t greater distances ajiart, upon tho outer feathers. Upper ¡.art of head and neck
crossed with zig-zag blaek and dark brown lines on a white ground in a very iiTogular manner. The wings are of a lighter brown than the
back, crossed similarly with hlnck, bat having tho shafts of flie featlicre all white, making them very consi.iciious. Tlie ¡.rlinarics arc a dark
brown, lighter ou tlieir outer webs, with dark brown sliafts. The throat and under ¡.art of tho neck is black inte.-sperecd nitli wliite linos
and spots, A white band crosses the lower ¡.art of the neek. and extends over the sides, covering tho ¡.osition of the gnlar sacks. The feathere
0.1 this portion, (xspecially those on the side, are very rigid, 6vcrla¡.¡.ing each other like scales, and in some q.ecimcns crackle liko ¡.a.'chme.it
when the hand is ¡>a-sscd over them. Tho upper part of the breast is white, with the shafts black ami stiff. The entire under pa.-Ls, from the
breast, are black, the under tail coverts blaek ti],ped with white. The black of the holly has a bo.-.ier of white blotched n itli blaek, wl.ile the
flanks are mottled like the back. The feathers of the thighs and tarsi a
e light brown, mottled with a darker brown. The bill is tliick and
strong, black, with the nasal fos,sie extending nearly two thirds it
Is Icngtli. The female rescnihlcs tlio male, l.iit is smaller, and is without tho gnlar
sacks. Tlie black of the lower parts is not so oxten.sive, n
lor nro the stiffened shafts of tho neek feathers so conspicuous, while the bars
and mottling of the upper parts is mneh greater.
The plate represents a male and female about three fourths the natural size. Different specimens, particularly a
sidorably m siz®, some being nearly half ns large again as the one represented.
0 males, vary c