The Prairie- Hen 165 



nest has no further attraction for them, the mother 

 covering them wherever the close of the day finds 

 them ; but as they are given to hanging about 

 some spot where food is abundant, they may be 

 found for days in succession on this favorite 

 ground. The hen is an excellent mother, giving 

 warning at the first sign of danger and feigning 

 lameness to attract the intruder to herself. The 

 wee chicks are swift of foot and clever at hiding, 

 and the discovery of them in the open by no 

 means implies the capture of even one. The first 

 food of the chicks is insects of various kinds, the 

 main course being grasshoppers. In this purely 

 insectivorous stage the birds perform a distinct 

 service the value of which must be considerable. 

 Later on, the diet is varied with seeds, berries, 

 and grain, wherever the latter is to be had. 



By the middle of August, in average seasons, 

 the young look large when they flush, but they 

 are still soft and comparatively weak of wing. 

 By the first of September, however, the majority 

 of them are strong enough to afford the best of 

 shooting, and they are then extremely good eat- 

 ing. The flesh is then white, but it darkens as 

 the bird ages. A peculiarity of it is that it does 

 not improve with hanging. Experienced chicken 

 shooters know this, and they never hesitate over 

 eating a bird within a few hours of its death. 

 Upon rising the chicken clucks gruffly and speeds 



