24 



BIRDS OF AMERICA 



PRAIRIE CHICKEN 



Tympanuchus americanus americanus { RcichcnbacJi^ 



A. O. U. Number 305 



Other Names. — Prairie Hen; Pinnated Grouse; 

 Prairie Grouse. 



General Description. — Length, i8 inclies. Color 

 above, yellowish-brown, spotted with black; below, 

 white barred with dusky-brown. Tail, short, rounded, 

 and with i8 feathers; tarsus, feathered to base of toes; 

 toes, webbed at base; a tuft of narrow, stiff feathers 

 about 3 inches long on each side of neck overlying an 

 area of bare skin; head with a .slight soft crest. Neck 

 tufts of female much smaller and less conspicuously 

 colored. 



Color.— Adults ; Plumage above, yellowish-brown 

 much broken by bro.-'.d traverse spots or irregular bars 

 of deep black, this color in excess of lighter tints; fore- 

 head, crown, and sides of head, deep buff; crown, much 

 mottled with black and brown spots; a stripe from 

 gape, beneath the eye, to nape, plain brownish-black; 

 primaries and tail, plain dusky, the former with round 



spots of pale ocher on outer webs; tail, narrowly tipped 

 with white; throat, plain buff bounded by a streak of 

 dusky above, thus two stripes on side of head; rest ot 

 lower parts, dull whitish, everywhere barred with nu- 

 merous sharply defined bands of dusky-brown ; neck- 

 tuft, rusty and pale buff at the neck, shading into deep 

 l.ilack at ends. 



Nest and Eggs. — Nest ; On the ground in open 

 prairie country, sheltered by grass tufts or bushes, or 

 exposed ; a slight hollow in the soil, thinly lined with 

 grass and a few feathers. Eggs: 8 to 12, light drab or 

 dull buffy usually unmarked, sometimes lightly sprinkled 

 with brown. 



Distribution. — Southeastern Saskatchewan and south- 

 ern Manitoba to eastern Colorado, northeastern Texas, 

 Arkansas, western Kentucky, and Indiana; probably 

 extinct east of Indiana but formerly reached south- 

 western Ontario, Michigan, and northwestern Ohio. 



The Prairie Chicken or Grouse, incltiding the 

 somewhat smaller form, Attwater's Prairie 

 Chictcen (Tviiipaiiiicluis aiiicricaiiKs attwatcri), 

 which is found in Texas and Louisiana, still 

 occurs, in sadly diminished numbers, from Mani- 

 toba, Michigan, and Indiana to Texas and west- 

 ward to the Great Plains where, as in the 

 Dakotas, it has extended its range with the ad- 

 vancement of civilization. The Prairie Grouse 

 weighs about two pounds and its flesh is tender, 

 juicy, and delicious. Some prefer it to the flesh 

 of the Ruffed Grouse. It certainly is a magnifi- 

 cent wild food bird and well worth preserving. 



Grouse cannot stand the ordinary destruction 

 by natural enemies and the destruction by guns 

 at the same time. Since the birds continued to 

 vanish after shooting had been prohibited, it is 

 evident that there are other causes for this be- 

 sides shooting. The destruction of their foods 

 and covers is sufficient to account for the loss. 

 Cats, rats, and roving dogs in many places pre- 

 vent any increase in their numbers. Prairie 

 fires and floods often exterminate them on large 

 areas. The same may be said of the Sharp- 

 tailed Grouse, and of the Prairie Chicken of the 

 northwestern States which once was plentiful as 

 far west as California; this bird has suffered, 

 also, from loss of its food and covers. The 

 prairie grasses, the wild rose, the wild sunflower, 

 and many other food plants often are absolutely 

 destroyed on the big wheat farms where these 

 birds formerly were abundant and where they 



are now extinct or nearly so. In addition to food 

 the briers aft'ord safe protection when a Hawk 

 or other enemy approaches. If we give their 

 natural enemies a good chance to eat them, by 

 destroying the Prairie Chickens' nesting sites 

 and covers, and if we destroy absolutely their 

 winter foods on vast areas, we must not expect 

 the birds to return to places from which they 

 have been extirpated merely because we have 

 enacted laws prohibiting shooting. 



In explanation of the picture, " The Love- 

 making of the Prairie Chicken," Dr. Frank M. 

 Chapman writes : " On frosty sjiring mornings, 

 as the sun rises over the prairies, one may at 

 times hear a singular, resonant, booming note, 

 boom-ah-b-o-o-m. boom-ah-b-o-o-ui. It is the 

 love-song of the I'rairie Hen. He may be near 

 at hand or possibly two miles away, so far does 

 this sound, unobstructed by tree or hill, carry in 

 the clear air. It is well worth following, how- 

 ever, for we may find the maker of it, with per- 

 haps ten to fifty of his kind, engaged in a most 

 remarkable performance. During the mating 

 season, from March until early in May, the 

 Prairie Hens of a certain district or area gather 

 before daybreak to take part in these courtship 

 demonstrations. The feather-tufts on either 

 part of the neck are erected like horns, the tail 

 raised and spread, the wings drooped, when the 

 bird first rushes forward a few steps, pauses, in- 

 flates its orange-like air-sacs, and with a violent, 

 jerking, muscular effort, produces the startling 



