114 KANSAS ACADEMY OF SCIENCE. 



position, silent, motionless, listening, patiently awaiting the coming of his 

 shy, timid mates. 



The hens sometimes came walking from a neighboring thicket, more fre- 

 quently flying from a distance with such noiseless wing they would not be 

 heard until they dropped on the leaves near by, quite in contrast to their 

 whirring flight when startled by the hunter. 



In Montana, at an altitude of 8,000 feet, I have observed pheasants drum- 

 ming from a fallen pine tree lying in a willow thicket while the snow was 

 a foot deep, and the mating season continued until late in June. 



Let us preserve as much as possible of the facts in natural history we 

 have observed, for by another generation most of our bird and animal life 

 will have ceased to exist, except in such changed conditions they will retain 

 but little of their original habits. 



