40 The Wilson Bulletin — No. 78. 



been se.en in this vicinity in years. A few years ago large 

 quantities of these birds were to be found almost at will in 

 this section of the country, but as the community became more 

 thickly settled the prairie chickens migrated to the north, 

 where the country is more open and where, too, large quanti- 

 ties of grain are produced, which is the principal means of 

 sustenance of the prairie chicken. 



" But there has been a drought and poor crops in the north- 

 west this year and this may be a possible explanation for the 

 presence of so many chickens in this country again this year.' 



Having just left a hospital and being unable to take the 

 cold, six-mile drive to the river bottom, I pressed the tele- 

 phone into service, and was soon in touch with several re- 

 liable countr)' friends of mine ; and T also interviewed Rev. 

 L. Bright of this city, who frequently hunts in that locality. 

 They all agree that the said territory, that is the south Skunk 

 River valley from j\Jetz to Monroe, Jasper County, Iowa, was 

 literally alive with prairie chickens during the month of De- 

 cember; that flocks of 500 arising from the cornfields were a 

 common sight, and that old residents agree that the birds 

 were more numerous than they had been for the past twenty 

 years. Upon the upland premises near this city, small flocks 

 are more 'numerous now than usual at this time of year. 



The "' Journal " is probably right as to the cause of this re- 

 markable state of affairs. The Dakotas are the incubators for 

 the prairie hen family. Here they breed in the, long grass of 

 sloughs and swales, and in the tall weeds along fences and 

 roadsides. During harvest they fatten themselves in the broad 

 wheatfields. But for the past two seasons the crops have been 

 terribly short in the Dakotas, as well as in Kansas and Ne- 

 braska. The gleanings are insufficient. This forces the birds 

 to migrate towards the south and east, where they naturally 

 follow the many rivers that flow southeast across Iowa, stop- 

 ping to glean in her many cornfields.. So that instead of the 

 usual number of flocks which com-e to us for the winter, we 

 have them increased tenfold. 



In the opinion of many the formerly abundant prairie 



