OF A RANCHMAN 



together it gives one the impression of being 

 a very angular bird. Of course it crouches, 

 and moves about when feeding, like any 

 other grouse. 



One of the strangest, and to me one of the 

 most attractive, sounds of the prairie is the 

 hollow booming made by the cocks in 

 spring. Before the snow has left the ground 

 they begin, and at the break of morning their 

 deep resonant calls sound from far and near, 

 for in still weather they can be heard at an 

 immense distance. I hardly know how to 

 describe the call; indeed it cannot be de- 

 scribed in words. It has a hollow, vibrant 

 sound like that of some wind instrument, 

 and would hardly be recognized as a bird 

 note at all. I have heard it at evening, but 

 more often shortly after dawn; and I have 

 often stopped and listened to it for many 

 minutes, for it is as strange and weird a 

 form of natural music as any I know. At 

 the time of the year when they utter these 

 notes the cocks gather together in certain 



