304 ACCESSIBLE FIELD SPORTS. 



frosty nights in autumn set in, when they unite in 

 packs of frequently as many as a hundred brace. 

 They continue thus packed in the greatest harmony 

 till the approach of spring, when amorous feelings 

 assert the mastery over social amity, and fierce 

 battles ensue between the males, seldom resulting 

 in the wounding and maiming of either of the com- 

 batants. On one occasion, while riding over some 

 burnt land on one of the southern prairies of Illinois, 

 on my way to a slough to kill some ducks in the evening 

 flight, I observed two chickens engaged in fierce com- 

 bat ; they permitted me to approach and capture both, 

 thoroughly exhausted, but unmarked by any wound. 

 The care and assiduity of the female for the protection 

 of her young are truly wonderful ; if she sees danger 

 approach her brood, she will throw herself on the 

 ground, screaming and manifesting an apparent in- 

 capacity of escape ; but when she has drawn the enemy 

 a sufiicient distance from her chicks, she leaves the 

 astonished intruder to follow her only with his eyes. 



Chicken shooting is laborious, requiring both judg- 

 ment and experience to be eminently successful, parti- 

 cularly when you happen to be a stranger in the 

 locality ; and the season being generally the hottest 

 in the year, September, it is absolutely necessary to 

 be clothed in the lightest attire. A flannel shirt and 



