LESSER PRAIRIE CHICKEN 281 



ing north to the narrow strip of short grass land in " No Man's Land," where it 

 died. The chickens that were driven north found an ideal home in the rolling, 

 sandy bunch-grass country that abounded just across the line. 



Their range in its entirety would probably cover no greater area than a fourth 

 of the State of Kansas, and the most abundant nucleus is in Stevens and 

 Morton counties. Here they are quite plentiful in its sandhill and bunch-grass 

 fastness, where, in the fall of the year they sometimes gather in flocks of 

 several hundred birds, roaming where they will, a typical bird of the long-grass 

 country. 



Courtship. — Concerning the courtship of this species, Colvin says : 

 The nuptial performances of the cocks are similar to those of the common 

 variety, but the ventriloquial drumming sound does not appear to be quite so 

 rolling or voluminous. In May, 1907, I put up in the heart of the nesting- 

 ground, where I had an excellent opportunity to study their habits. The cocks 

 generally select for drumming-ground a slight rise covered with buffalo grass, 

 where they gather each spring for the nuptial performance. They are very 

 partial to their drumming-grounds, and even though disturbed will return to 

 their old haunts year after year. I saw one drumming-ground that had been 

 used for many years. 



Here the cocks would gather sometimes as high as fifty birds to perform their 

 antics. The drumming of so many cocks would be of such volume as to 

 sound like distant thunder. Hens attracted by the drumming would cause 

 disturbance. Cock fights and a general all-around rumpus would begin. A 

 great deal of strutting and clucking would be done by the males. Finally, 

 when, with lowered head and wings and air-sacks full, a successful cock 

 would drive his hen from the bunch, peace would reign again, and the drumming 

 would be resumed. 



Nesting. — A nest that Colvin found near Liberal, Kans., on May 

 28, 1920, was " located in a bunch of sage, growing in a swale just 

 below a brow of a hill ; " it consisted of " a hollow scooped out in the 

 sand and lined with grasses. So well concealed was the nest that 

 one could observe only a small portion of the female as she sat upon 

 the nest. Disturbing the sage brush she left the nest, disappearing 

 over the hill. The nest contained 12 eggs on the point of hatching." 



Another set of eggs, which he kindly presented to me, was taken 

 in the same general region on June 2, 1920; these eggs were only 

 slightly incubated. He says in his notes : 



On John Napier's farm I was shown a nest of the lesser prairie hen. It 

 was placed under the south side of a bunch of sage, and was a mere hollow 

 in the sand lined with grasses. When I saw the nest it had been exposed by 

 a corn lister. The nest originally contained 12 eggs, but one had been broken 

 by the lister, leaving 11. Mr. Napier informed me that the team had passed 

 over the nest and sitting hen twice before she was finally raked off by the 

 doubletree. 



Of a third nest he writes : 



Through the efforts of an old-time trapper, Ed. Ward, I was successful in 

 securing a set of 13 straw-buff-colored eggs. The nest, a mere hollow in the 

 sand, was lined with a few grasses, and was situated under a tumbleweed, 

 which had lodged between two tufts of grass on the north side of a sloping 



