56 REPORT OF STATE GEOLOGIST. 



It is known (hat this species extends il> nin^v, sometimes, but 1 

 have nothing at hand to show that it did in this State, in counties 

 like Carroll and Wabash it has confined itself to the prairie district. 



Prof. W. W. Cooke has shown that west of the Mississippi River it 

 has, to a certain extent, developed the habit of migration, which is 

 more apparent some years than others. 



They begin mating some years early in March. The following ac- 

 count of the love-making of these birds, by Judge J. D. Caton, a 

 careful and well-known naturalist, is given: "The spring of the year 

 is the season of courtship with them, and it does not last all the year 

 round, as it does with humans, and they do it in rather a loud way, 

 too}- and, instead of taking the evening, as many people are inclined 

 to do, they choose the early morning. Early in the morning you may 

 see them assemble in parties, from a dozen to fifty together, on some 

 high, dry knolls, where the grass is short. 



"The cock birds have a loose patch of naked, yellow skin on each side 

 of the neck, just below the head, and above these, on either side, just 

 where the head joins the neck, are a few long black feathers, which 

 ordinarily lay backward on the neck, but which, when excited, they 

 can pitch straight forward. Those naked, yellow patches on either side 

 of the neck cover sacs, which they blow up like a bladder when- 

 ever they choose. These are their ornaments, which they display to 

 the best advantage before the gentler sex at these love-feasts. This 

 they do by blowing up these air sacs till they look like two ripe oranges 

 on each side of the neck, projecting their long black ears right for- 

 ward, ruffling up all the feathers of the body till they stand out 

 straight, and dropping their wings to the ground like a Turkey cock. 

 Now they look just lovely, as the cosy, timid maidens seem to say as 

 they cast side glances at them full of admiration and love. 



"Then it is that the proud cock, in order to complete his triumph, 

 will rush forward at his best speed for two or three rods through the 

 midst of these love-sick damsels, pouring out as he goes a booming 

 noise, almost a hoarse roar, only more subdued, which may be heard 

 for, at least, two miles in the still morning air. 



"This heavy booming sound is by no means harsh or unpleasant; 

 on the contrary, it is soft and harmonious. When standing in the 

 open prairie at early dawn, listening to hundreds of different voices, 

 pitched on different keys, coming from every direction, and from vari- 

 ous distances, the listener is rather soothed than excited. If this sound 

 is heavier than the deep keynotes of a large organ, it is much softer, 

 though vastly more powerful and may be heard at a much greater dis- 



