Grouse of the Northern Cattle Plains 81 



turbing them or making any unusual noise ; and by 

 degrees they would all lie down, close together. This 

 "bedding down" is always done when traveling with 

 a large herd, when, of course, it needs several cow- 

 boys to do it ; and in such cases some of the cowboys 

 keep guard all the time, walking their horses round 

 the herd, and singing and calling to the cattle all 

 night long. The cattle seem to like to hear the hu- 

 man voice, and it tends to keep them quiet and free 

 from panic. Often when camping near some great 

 cattle outfit I have lain awake at night for an hour 

 or over listening to the wild, not unmusical, calls of 

 the cowboys as they rode round the half-slumbering 

 steers. In the clear, still night air the calls can be 

 heard for a mile and more, and I like to listen to 

 them as they come through the darkness, half mel- 

 lowed by the distance, for they are one of the char- 

 acteristic sounds of plains life. Texan steers often 

 give considerable trouble before they can be bedded, 

 and are prone to stampede, especially in a thunder- 

 storm. But with the little herd we were at this time 

 guarding there was no difficulty whatever, the ani- 

 mals being grade shorthorns of Eastern origin. Af- 

 ter seeing them quiet we would leave them for the 

 night, again riding out early in the morning. 



On every occasion when we thus rode out in the 

 morning we saw great numbers of prairie fowl feed- 

 ing in the open plain in small flocks, each evidently 

 composed of a hen and her grown brood. They 

 would often be right round the cattle, and went in- 

 differently among the sage brush or out on the short 



