SAGE GROUSE
309. Centrocercus urophasianus. 29 in.
The female of this large and very interesting grouse differs from the male only in its smaller size and paler, duller plumage. They are found in abundance on the dry sagebrush-covered plains about the Rocky Mts. and to the westward. In summer they feed largely upon insects and buds of various plants, but in fall and winter, their food is almost entirely the leaves of the sagebrush; at this season, in consequence, their flesh is unfit to eat, so they are not hunted for market, and are able to pursue a life of quiet as far as man is concerned. In spring, they indulge in amusing play, as do all the grouse; they have a few wiry hairs on either side of the neck, covering the naked sacs that correspond to those of the [Prairie Hen]; they strut about with these sacs inflated, and their spread tail, erect, making peculiar buzzing sounds.
Nest.—Eggs laid on the ground under sagebrush; greenish-buff, spotted rather sparingly with brown.
Range.—Sagebrush covered plains from New Mexico to Southern British Columbia and Assiniboia.
Family Meleagridæ
WILD TURKEY
310. Meleagres gallopavo silvestris. 48 in.
Female much smaller and duller colored than the male. These fine, large birds frequent woodlands and borders of streams, where they search through the underbrush for food in the daytime and sleep in the tallest trees at night. They are one of the shyest birds, and they have reasons for being, for they have been hunted until there are none left in New England and northern Middle States. Wild Turkeys strut and gobble precisely like domestic ones. Their plumage is more of a coppery bronze color and their upper tail coverts are rusty, without white edges.
Nest.—Eggs laid on the ground among leaves, usually in dense thickets; buff, spotted with brown (2.55 × 1.90).
Range.—From Penn. and Ohio south to the Gulf States west to Arkansas. 310b., Florida Wild Turkey, found in Florida, is smaller. 310c., Rio Grande Turkey, is found in southern Texas; it has upper tail-coverts edged with buff.
