156 The Wilson Bulletin — No. 100 



Golden Plover (Charadriiis dominicus dominicus). Mr. Smith 

 said, " There were countless thousands of them running over the 

 burned-over prairies in the spring of 1876." Mr. Lee reported that 

 in early days Indian creek used to be a flightway for golden plover. 

 He stated that during the spring migration a bushel basket-full 

 could be shot there in an hour. He also reported seeing four 

 golden plover in Buena Vista county in the fall of 1916. Dr. 

 Speaker of Lake View reported one killed near Wall lake about 1910. 



Killdeer (Oxyeclius vociferus) . Tolerably common as a migrant 

 and tolerably common as a breeding species. I once found a nest 

 in my cornfield over three-fourths of a mile from the nearest water. 

 It is one of the earliest migrants, my first seen dates ranging from 

 March 11th in 1908 and 1911 to April 3rd in 1915. 



Semipalmated Plover {Mgialitis semipalmata) . A common fall 

 migrant, especially at the inlet of Wall lake, but rare as a spring 

 migrant in my experience. I have seen it only once in spring, 

 June 9, 1916, along Boyer river west of the " Goosepond." 



Bob-white or Quail (Colinus virginianns virginianns). Two speci- 

 mens in the Smith collection. The bob-white is very rare in all the 

 prairie portions of the county at he present time. The few that are 

 found live mostly along the edges of the timber along the Coon river. 

 Mr. Lee reported bob-whites very scarce in 1854. Mr. Tiberghien 

 reported that bob-whites were most numerous in 1866. Mr. Piatt 

 Armstrong of Lake View reported a few bob-whites in a patch of 

 brush on Indian creek in 1878. The bob-whites do not thrive h\ 

 the prairie portions of the county because, even if the hunters 

 spare them, every four or five years there comes a sleet storm in 

 winter which reduces them to the verge of extinction. 



Ruffed Grouse (Bonasa um'bellus umhellus). Extinct in the 

 county at the present day. Mr. Lee said he saw the last one in 

 1886, and had seen a few others before that. Mr. Hugh Cory re- 

 ported ruffed grouse rare, the last he saw being in the 1860's. 



Prairie Chicken (Ti/nipannchus americanns americanus). Three 

 specimens in the Smith collection. The status of the prairie 

 chicken has been changed several times in Sac county. Mr. Tiber- 

 ghien reported that the prairies chickens were common at the time 

 of the earliest settlements, but that they migrated south in winter. 

 He said that in the winter of 1855-56 fifteen chickens tried to re- 

 main and only seven of them survived. All the other chickens 

 had migrated south, and returning the next spring were very abun- 

 dant the succeeding summer and fall, nesting in great numbers on 

 the prairie. These migrations giving absence in winter continued 

 until about 1875 to 1880, when corn became a common crop. The 

 prairie chickens then both nested and wintered abundantly. Many 

 farmers trapped them in coop traps during the winter, some of 



