THE PRAIRIE HEX. 435 



now by most naturalists, including such well-known ornithologists as Brewster, 

 Merriam and Henshaw, that the sound is produced by the outspread wings 

 of the bird being suddenly brought downward against the air, without striking 

 anything." 



Another noisy surprise is in store for the person who comes upon a 

 mother Partridge with a brood of tender chicks. With a great outcry the 

 mother bird charges up in front of the intruder, or dashes into his face; then 

 stands before him with flashing eyes and ruffled feathers looking fierce enough 

 to eat him up. Thus she holds the enemy at bay for one bewildered moment, — 

 a precious moment, in which her tiny darlings are finding shelter. Then she 

 collapses like a struck tent and vanishes in a trice. A diligent search may 

 discover a chick under a fallen leaf, or between two pieces of bark, but no 

 living man can find an entire brood in this way. 



The Ruffed Grouse is still not uncommon in the hilly counties in the 

 southern and eastern portions of the state, but it is nowhere found in such 

 numbers as formerly. Its suitable range is necessarily somewhat restricted 

 by the advance of civilization, but it is a hardy bird and there is no reason 

 why it should not be retained as a permanent inhabitant of the state. As 

 it is, the species stands in need of an extended period of absolute protection, 

 followed by a rigid enforcement of good laws, that it may recover its rightful 

 status. 



No. 195. 



PRAIRIE HEN. 



A. ( >. U. Xo. 305. Tympanuchus americaniis (Reich.) 



Synonyms. — Prairie Chicken; Pinnated Grouse. 



Description. — Adult mule: Above dusky-brown to blackish, narrowly 

 barred and spotted with ochraceous-buff of several shades; crown blackish, less 

 spotted with buff; an elongated tuft of feathers on each side of the neck, brown- 

 ish-black, the uppermost 1'eathers rufous-and-buffy-striped on the inner webs; 

 tips of feathers rounded or truncated; beneath the neck-tufts a bare space of 

 orange-colored skin, largely concealed at rest ; wing-quills, light fuscous, spotted 

 with whitish or ochraceous-buff on external webs ; tail, rounded, fuscous, black- 

 ening toward the tip, the central feathers narrowly white-tipped; chin, throat, and 

 sides of head, buffy or ochraceous with a blackish malar stripe and an obscure 

 spot of same color on side of throat ; remaining under parts evenly barred with 

 light grayish-brown and white, tinged more or less with ochraceous on sides 

 and sometimes on breast ; nearly unmarked on lower belly and crissum ; tarsi fully 

 feathered, plain ochraceous. Adult female: Similar, but neck-tufts smaller and 

 shorter; tail regularly and narrowly barred with ochraceous-buff or tawny. Im- 

 mature: Brownish above, with medial white streaks and heavy blotches of black; 



