LAND BIRDS. 233 



Trombley stated that it was nearly or quite extinct in 1906. Probably 

 it exists in greatest numbers at the present time in those counties of the 

 three southern tiers, in which the swales and undrained marshes of the 

 original prairie region have been best protected from fire. Frequent fires 

 and the incessant persecution of gunners have completed the extermination 

 in scores of places where the b'rd was once abundant. 



The call of the male during the mating season is one of the most re- 

 markable among bird notes. It is variously known as "booming," "crow- 

 ing" and "tooting," but no one of these terms gives any fair idea of the 

 notes, which combine the sweetness and clearness of a bell with the re- 

 sonance of a drum. Probably they could be most closely imitated with 

 a pure-toned cornet, at least this is the case with those we have heard 

 here in Ingham county. But other observers describe the sounds as 

 quite different. Thus Judge Caton speaks of "the proud cock* * * * 

 pouring out a booming noise, almost a hoarse roar, only more subdued, 

 which may be heard for at least two miles in the still morning. This heavy 

 booming sound is by no means harsh or unpleasant; on the contrary it is 

 soft and even harmonious. If heavier than the deep key notes of a large 

 organ, it is much softer, though vastly more powerful." Doubtless the 

 distance at which the Ijird is heard has much to do with the impression 

 produced, and we have found it extremely difficult to locate the bird by the 

 sound, so much so that the power of ventriloquism often ascribed to this 

 species seems to be quite warranted. When "booming" the male inflates 

 the naked air sacs on the sides of the neck, until they look, as Judge Caton 

 says, "like two ripe oranges." 



So far as we can learn no southward migration of this species in the late 

 fall or winter has ever been noticed in this state, although it is a well known 

 fact that such a migration occurred formerly with great regularity in 

 Minnesota, Iowa, Missouri and Nebraska, and to a lesser extent in Wisconsin 

 and Illinois. During these migrations flocks of several hundred individuals, 

 sometimes a thousand or more, have been noted, but they were always wild 

 and difficult of approach, and when alarmed made flights of several miles 

 without pausing. In Iowa at least it has been shown that these migrating 

 birds are chiefly, if not entirely, females, the males remaining all winter 

 at the north (Cooke, Bird Migration in the Mississippi Valley, 1888, 105). 



The Prairie Chicken nests invariably on the ground and lays from ten 

 to fifteen eggs which vary from "pale cream to vi^aceous and olive-buff, 

 as well as light brown and clay color, usually faintly but regularly spotted 

 with fine i)in-points of reddish brown" (Bendire, Life Histories, Vol. I, 

 p. 92). The eggs are generally laid early in May, but have been found 

 occasionally in July and August. Normally but one brood is reared in a 

 season, and the period of incubation is said to be from three to four weeks. 

 Our illustration (Plate XIV) is from a nest of fourteen eggs found at 

 Chandler's Marsh, Ingham county. May 31, 1897, by L. J. Cole. The eggs 

 average 1.66 by 1.24 inches. 



Its food consists very largely of insects so long as these arc ol)tainable, 

 and not infrequently grasshoppers form almost the sole food for weeks at 

 a time. Various grains and seeds are also eaten freely, and during the colder 

 half of the year, buds, l^crries and leaves are freely taken. Since tlie bird 

 never injures grain ci'ops in any way, and destroj's myriads of harmful 

 insects, its preservation and increase would seem to commend themselves 

 to the farmer, who should encourage their presence whenever possible, 



