^'°'-,m?''^M Cooke, Winter Birds of Oklahoma. 473 



1914 



the Turkey creeping under it. A long train of barley, corn, or 

 some other grain is then laid on the ground, leading into the trap; 

 the Turkeys gather up the grain till they arrive at the trap, when 

 they follow the bait and creep under the rail; as soon as they dis- 

 cover the predicament they are in they become so alarmed that 

 they appear at once to lose all instinct; there is nothing to prevent 

 them leaving the trap the way they came in, but they seem to not be 

 aware of that, and remain stupidly staring about them till they are 

 captured. In consequence of this known stupidity of the Turkey, 

 trapping is prohibited in Canada, as tending to exterminate the 

 breed, the Turkey usually wandering in flocks or families, and 

 the whole flock being thus generally taken at once; whereas, if 

 they are shot, the chances are that some one of each brood will 

 escape." 



SOME WINTER BIRDS OF OKLAHOMA. 



BY WELLS W. COOKE. 



Less has been published about the birds of Oklahoma than about 

 those of any other state in the Union. It seems advisable therefore 

 that a record should be made of the notes made during a seven 

 months' residence there the winter of 1883-4. The center of 

 observations was the town of Caddo, on the M. K. and T. Ry., 

 twenty miles north of Denison, Texas. The country at that time 

 — the Choctaw Nation — was devoted principally to the grazing of 

 beef cattle. Right in the town of Caddo there were a few small 

 cotton and corn fields, but a half mile in any direction brought one 

 to the open range, never as yet overstocked, and scarcely changed 

 from its condition before it was trod by the white man's foot. Much 

 the same could be said about the timber. There were no forests 

 anywhere and no evergreens. The country as a whole was well 

 grassed prairie, but every little 'branch' was fringed with brush, 

 and when enough of these had united to make a permanently 

 flowing stream its banks were lined with a thin fringe of trees, which 



