THE LESSER PRAIRIE HEN. 



- - ^ 



LjXTENDING over the Great 



p| Plains from western and prob- 



j ' ably southern Texas 



""^^^^^ northward through 



Indian Territory to Kansas is said to 



be the habitation of the Lesser Prairie 



Hen, though it is not fully known. It 



inhabits the fertile prairies, seldom 



frequenting the timbered lands, except 



during sleety storms, or when the 



ground is covered with snow. Its 



flesh is dark and it is not very highly 



esteemed as a table bird. 



The habits of these birds are similar 

 to those of the Prairie Hen. During 

 the early breeding season they feed 

 upon grasshoppers, crickets, and other 

 forms of insect life, but afterwards upon 

 cultivated grains, gleaned from the 

 stubble in autumn and the corn fields 

 in winter. They are also fond of 

 tender buds, berries, and fruits. When 

 flushed, these birds rise from the 

 ground with a less whirring sound 

 than the Ruffed Grouse or Bob White, 

 and their flight is not as swift, but 

 more protracted, and with less appar- 

 ent effort, flapping and sailing along, 

 often to the distance of a mile or more. 

 In the fall the birds come together, 

 and remain in flocks until the 

 warmth of spring awakes the pas- 

 sions of love ; then, in the language 

 of Col. Goss, as with a view to 

 fairness and the survival of the fittest, 

 they select a smooth, open courtship 



ground, usually called a scratching 

 ground, where the males assemble at 

 the early dawn, to vie with each other 

 in carnage and pompous display, utter- 

 ing at the same time their love call, a 

 loud, booming noise. As soon a* this 

 is heard by the hen birds desirous of 

 mating, they quietly appear, squat upon 

 the ground, apparently indifferent 

 observers, until claimed by victorious 

 rivals, whom they gladly accept, and 

 whose caresses they receive. Audubon 

 states that the vanquished and victors 

 alike leave the grounds to search for 

 the females, but he omits to state that 

 many are present, and mate upon the 

 " scratching grounds." 



The nest of the Prairie Hen is 

 placed on the ground in the thick 

 prairie grass and at the foot of bushes 

 when the earth is barren ; a hollow 

 is scratched in the soil, and sparingly 

 lined with grasses and a few feathers. 

 There are from eight to twelve eggs, 

 tawny brown, sometimes with an olive, 

 hue and occasionally sprinkled with 

 brown. 



During the years 1869 and 1870, 

 while the writer was living in south- 

 western Kansas, which was then the 

 far west, Prairie Chickens as they were 

 called there, were so numerous that 

 they were rarely used for food by the 

 inhabitants, and as there was then no 

 readily accessible market the birds were 

 slaughtered for wanton sport. 



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