Prairie Chickens 187 



Then came the cycle of 1909. Wisconsin and Indiana tightened their belts. 

 All the rest had already done so, except Iowa and Minnesota. Iowa waited until 

 the cycle of 1917, and then, having no chickens left, reformed her 3-months' 

 season into a total closure, while Minnesota shortened hers to 15 days. 



In those days the word "cycle" was not abroad in the land, nevertheless every 

 chicken State but Indiana and Illinois responded to the 1917 cycle. Indiana had 

 just opened up, following the miraculous comeback of 1912, and besides was at 

 that moment on the top of the Hungarian wave, with no great need of mere native 

 birds to assure her future sport. She has since amended this view. 



Since 1917 the open seasons have been so short that one must look closely 

 to see them on the chart; nevertheless the 1927 cycle again registered in every 

 remaining State except Indiana. In this year of grace, 1930, we have come to a 

 virtually complete closure throughout the region, but we have not come yet to any 

 comprehensive program in even a single State for supplying what the prairie 

 chicken really lacks: a motive for the farmer to give him food, cover, and pro- 

 tection. 



Need of Refuges. Chickens occur on the same kind of land as pheasants, 

 waterfowl, and (in places) deer and ruffed grouse. 



The first three are, like chickens, by their nature adapted to benefit from pub- 

 licly owned refuges. With each species, a properly located refuge will tend to 

 put a large area of surrounding land into production. 



The lack of success of the "leased" refuges in the past has no bearing on 

 this assertion. There was no control of cover and feed on these, and to this 

 extent they were mere gestures, existing on paper but not in fact. 



Furthermore, lands suitable for chicken refuges are often comparatively 

 cheap, and hence suitable for public acquisition. In the light of the recent 

 evidence on chicken mobility, one or two refuges per county would suffice. 



In the region of impecunious drainage projects, land is often so cheap that 

 it would further be possible to surround such refuges with public shooting 

 grounds, and to supplement the chicken crop with a large waterfowl crop pro- 

 duced by reflooding suitable lands. 



Here is an opportunity too good to miss. Yet no State is so far taking ad- 

 vantage of it on any scale.' If the public does not avail itself of such chances, 

 private enterprise eventually will, after which we will hear a great hue and cry 

 about clubs depriving the public of its sport. In game, as in other matters, the 

 Lord helps those who move first. 



Need of Index Areas. In the States which still have any open season at 

 all, the law usually opens certain counties and leaves the rest closed. The question 

 of which counties to open is usually determined by public hearings before legisla- 

 tive committees at the time the law is passed. The resulting statute necessarily 

 represents some temporary phase of the cycle, and bears little or no relation to 

 the present or even the average status of the birds. Hence the law seldom fits 



