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PRAIRIE CHICKENS ON THE GRASSY PLAINS OF NEBRASKA 



During the mating season prairie chickens gather in the early mornings on certain open fields wliich have served 

 them as dance areas for many generations. The resemblance of this prairie chicken to the heath hen in 

 appearance and in the habits of the mating season is at once apparent. In fact, not until 1885 was it 

 discovered that the birds of Martlia's Vineyard were distinct from tlie prairie chicken. The species 

 had then been killed out on the mainland and it was too late to determine how far west it had 

 ranged, but it is known to have been abundant in the country east of the Appalachians 

 and south to Pennsylvania. The photograph above is made from the habitat 

 group in the American Museum, constructed in 1906 under the di- 

 rection of Dr. Frank M. Chapman 



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