262 BULLETIN 162, UNITED STATES NATIONAL MUSEUM 



of corn following a heavy snowstorm, he had virtually to drive the 

 birds away, and when flushed they flew but a few yards to the next 

 shock of corn. Such behavior is probably very unusual except un- 

 der very extraordinary circumstances when the birds are suffering 

 with extreme hunger. According to Mr. Worden, the birds fre- 

 quently alight in trees during winter, but he says they invariably 

 roost on the ground at night. 



F. Hall, of Babcock, Wis., states that during the winter of 1928-29 

 a flock of about a dozen prairie chickens came regularly to the 

 poplar trees of his back yard, but he was not certain to what extent 



they fed upon the buds. 



i 



DISTRIBUTION 



Range. — South-central Canada and the United States east of the 

 Rocky Mountains, except the Southeastern States. 



The full range of the prairie chicken extended north to southern 

 Saskatchewan (Quill Lake and Indian Head) ; southern Manitoba 

 (Oak Lake, Carberry, Westbourne, Ossono, and Shoal Lake) ; north- 

 ern Minnesota (Crooked Lake) ; central Wisconsin (Unity, Wild 

 Rose, and West Depere) ; Michigan, (Chatham, McMillan, Sault 

 Ste. Marie, and Fourmile Lake) ; southern Ontario (Wallaceburg 

 and Chatham) ; and Massachusetts (Springfield, Newton, and Cape 

 Ann). East to Massachusetts (Cape Ann and Marthas Vineyard) ; 

 Long Island, N. Y. (Miller Place and Hempstead) ; New Jersey 

 (Barnegat) ; and southern Maryland (Marshall Hall). South to 

 southern Maryland (Marshall Hall) ; District of Columbia (near 

 Washington) ; probably Virginia and perhaps North Carolina; south- 

 western Pennsylvania (Blairsville) ; central Ohio (near Columbus) ; 

 southern Indiana (Bloomington, Marco, and Bickwell) ; northwestern 

 Kentucky (Henderson) ; southern Louisiana (Iowa Station and Cal- 

 casieu Pass) ; and Texas (Beaumont, Richmond, Edna, Port Lavaca, 

 St. Charles Bay, Austin, and Tascosa). West to northwestern Texas 

 (Tascosa) ; Colorado (Barton and Barr) ; southeastern Wyoming 

 (Chug water) ; northwestern Nebraska (Chadron) ; South Dakota 

 (Pine Ridge Reservation, Kadoka, and Short Pine Hills) ; North 

 Dakota (Bismarck, Charlson, and Crosby) ; and southern Saskat- 

 chewan (Johnston Lake and Quill Lake). 



A specimen taken in the fall of 1917 near Huntley, Mont., is at 

 present the only record for that State. Prairie chickens have been 

 noted as rare in winter near Fayetteville, Ark., and are said to occur 

 in that season at De Witt, Ark. 



The prairie chicken and its eastern relative, the heath hen, have 

 been extirpated over great areas in their former range. The heath 

 hen is, in fact, extinct except for a single bird, which at the time 



