ANDERSON — THE lUKDS OF IOWA. 23^ 



April 10 — Observed Chickens from "blind." They began to flv 

 in about 5:45 p. m. All were males, as on all subsequent occa- 

 sions, which leads me to doubt that the performance is entirely 

 for the benefit of the hen birds. When ready* to "boom," or 

 "coo," as I should prefer to call it, the cock scratches the ground 

 with both feet very rapidly for a second, then l)ending the body 

 forward and downward, wings drooping to the ground, and tail 

 spread, the orange-yellow neck-sacs are inflated and the air is 

 forced out with a rolling doo — doo — doo, the last syllable prolonged 

 and the head bobbing with each sound. The bird then straight- 

 ens up, deliberateh- walks a few steps, and repeats the operation. 

 Frequentlj- two or three cocks are cooing at once, making a pro- 

 longed and continuous doo — 00 — 00 — doo, often intermingled with 

 a clucking took! took! took! took! or a loud shrill ca — ca — ca — ca — 

 caa! the last syllable very shrill. While cooing, the sack under 

 the throat becomes nearly spherical, but the feathers along the 

 median line dividing the yellow skin .sometimes make it appear 

 to bulge out at the sides. The cooing continued for some time 

 after dark. The birds .seemed very pugnacious and many spec- 

 tacular and ceremonious combats occurred, two cocks advancing 

 toward each other, bowing deliberately, until the}- would sud- 

 denly spring together, one sometimes jumping over the other's 

 head. None seemed to be injured b}- these tilts, however. 



In the mornings the}- begin to coo by five o'clock or earlier, 

 usually ceasing l)efore .seven. On cold days they were not so 

 noisy. On April 22 they were noi.sy at times, but strangely quiet 

 at intervals, being only aroused from their apathy to answer an- 

 other distant chorus from the west. The last cooing of the 

 Prairie Chickens for the season which I heard was on the morn- 

 ing of May 27. 



The eggs are usually laid in May, although unfavorable seas- 

 ons may delay the hatching time until after the middle of June. 

 May 5, 1895, I found a nest containing ten fresh eggs in tall dead 

 grass, about three feet from a ditch containing running water; 

 May 18, 1895, twelve fresh eggs, on dry ground, in a low place; 

 May 25, 1895, twelve eggs, nearly ready to hatch, on upland 

 prairie, all in Hancock county, Iowa. While I have seen a num- 

 V)er of Prairie Chicken's eggs hatched out under domestic hens, 

 tht deeply inherent wildness of the chicks prevented them from 

 being raised to maturity. 



