EEEATIC HABITS OF PEAIEIE FOWL. 197 



have thus far failed to satisfy my mind, unless the burning 

 of the grass, or inundations, to which the western country 

 is particularly subject, can be accepted as a reason. A few 

 years ago a low prairie close to my dwelling was most 

 amply stocked with prairie fowl, so much so that I used to 

 limit my bag to one dozen, and seldom did it take more 

 than an hour to obtain this number. Next year, on the 

 same land, not one solitary bird was to be found. Now, 

 this prairie had not been burnt, although others in the 

 vicinity had undergone the operation. Early in the season, 

 before the young have attained maturity., and ere the cold 

 and boisterous winds of autumn have caused them to pack, 

 the sportsman must indeed be a bad shot who cannot 

 tumble them on nearly each discharge, for they are easy of 

 approach, lying very close, and rising and flying slowly, 

 without making much of that disconcerting disturbance so 

 apparent in the flushing of partridge and of ruffed grouse. 

 Again, the ground in which they are found is open, and 

 clear from interruptions, affording an abundance of time for 

 the most precise and formal to take aim ; but after the 

 autumnal equinoctial gales have whistled over the un- 

 protected landscape, and the sharp night-frosts have 

 changed the verdant leaves to a vermillion or golden hue, 

 rapid and precise shooting is required, for not only will 

 they rise at long range, but take hard and fair hitting to 

 bring them down, and instead of finding the quarry on the 

 sun- warmed, open, grassy slopes, the dense tall corn will 

 be more frequently selected as their chosen retreat. 



Of course, the farther you proceed West, the nearer you 

 reach the ultimate extremities of civilization, the greater 



