SAGE GROUSE.
309. Centrocercus urophasianus. 29 inches.
The female of this large and interesting Grouse differs from the male only in its smaller size and paler plumage. They are found in abundance on the dry sagebrush covered plains about the Rocky Mountains and to the westward. In fall and winter their food consists almost entirely of the leaves of the sagebrush, their flesh being unfit to eat at this season. In the mating season they indulge in the usual antics of the grouse family. They have the same peculiar sacs on the sides of the neck which they inflate so that the whole neck is a small orange colored balloon, at the same time spreading their long pointed tail feathers to their fullest extent, and strutting about after the manner of the turkey.
Nest.—Are shallow hollows in the ground, under, generally, a sagebush or some protection to cover the nest; six to twelve eggs of a greenish drab color, spotted with brown (2.15 × 1.50).
MERRIAM TURKEY.
310. Meleagris gallopavo merriami. 48 inches.
Female much duller and smaller than the male. The plumage is a coppery bronze color and their upper tail coverts are a dusty color with no white edges. 8 to 16 eggs; buff spotted with brownish (2.55 × 1.90).
BAND-TAILED PIGEON—Family Columbidæ.
312. Columba fasciata. 16 inches.