THE PINNATED GROUSP]. G5 



to seek the woods for shelter and the cornfields for food, 

 vast numbers are trapped by means of every known 

 device, and forwarded to the Atlantic States and Europe. 

 This method of capture is made easy by the habit the 

 creatures have of uniting in large packs as soon as the 

 weather becomes frosty, and of travelling together, even 

 into the snares set for them. 



The general habits of the prairie chickens are now so 

 well known that experienced sportsmen know where to 

 seek for them at any time of the day or year. They 

 are found in stubble fields and patches of flax and beans 

 during the morning in the early part of the season, or on 

 ridges and hillocks where the grass is short; but about 

 ten o'clock, when the sun begins to get hot, they retire 

 to the long grass and lie there until four or five o'clock 

 P. M., when they resort to the fields again for food. 

 They are sure to be found on the lee of a ridge if the 

 wind blows strongly, and near the margins of sloughs in 

 the evening. The cornfields are favorite retreats during 

 the middle of the day, as the long stalks protect them 

 from the glare of the sun, and the ground is loose enough 

 to enable them to enjoy their dust bath, which is then- 

 panacea for parasites. Dogs find it very diflficult to work 

 them up in such localities, owing to their habit of skulk- 

 ing and the dryness of the earth. The sportsman also 

 learns in a short time that he cannot make a large bag in 

 tall corn, as he must depend entirely on snap shots, and 

 he cannot mark them down when they alight after being 

 flushed. 



The most experienced sportsmen rest during the heat 

 of the day, and depend on morning and evening shooting 

 for making their big bags, as the birds lie better to dogs 

 then than at any other time. They are also found more 

 promptly, as their scent is strong, and is borne some dis- 

 tance away by the gentle breezes that generally blow for 

 a few hours after sunrise and before sunset. They re- 



