BIRDS OF KANSAS. 227 



often lain and watched their amorous actions, described in so 

 life-like a manner by Audubon. His statement that the van- 

 quished and victors alike leave the grounds to search for the 

 females is true, but he omits to state that many -are present, and 

 mate upon the ' ' scratching grounds. ' ' The birds are not strictly 

 true to each other during the love season, and this is true of 

 most birds when the assistance of the male is not required in 

 hatching and rearing of the young. 



Their nests are placed on the ground in the thick prairie grass, 

 and at the foot of bushes on the barren ground; a hollow 

 scratched out in the soil, and sparingly lined with grasses and a 

 few feathers. Eggs eight to twelve, 1.68x1.25; tawny brown, 

 sometimes with an olive hue, and occasionally sprinkled with 

 brown; in form, rather oval. A set of nine eggs, collected at 

 Pewaukee, Wisconsin, May 27th, 1883, measure: 1.65x1.27, 

 1.64x1.24, 1.66x1.22, 1.69x1.23, 1.62x1.24, 1.69x1.28, 1.61x 

 1.27, 1.64x1.26, 1.64x1.25. 



Tympanuchus pallidicinctus 



LESSER 'PRAIRIE HEN. 

 PLATE XIII. 



Resident in the southern part of the State; rare. 



B. - . R. 477. C. 564. G. 220, 105. U. 307. 



HABITAT. Not fully known. Eidgway says: "Eastern bor- 

 ders of the Great Plains, from Nebraska (?), southwestern 

 Kansas, southwestern Missouri (?), and western part of Indian 

 Territory to western Texas." I have only met with the birds 

 in the Indian Territory and southeastern Kansas. 



SP. CHAR. "Much smaller and lighter in color than T. americanus. Upper 

 parts rather evenly barred with narrow, pale brownish to dusky and pale gray- 

 ish, ochraceous. Beneath, whitish with narrow bars of pale brown; iris brown; 

 bill dark brown; feet yellow; claws brownish black." 



Stretch of 

 Length. wing. Wing. Tail. Tarsus. Bill. 



Male ..... 16.70 27.25 8.25 4.00 1.60 .60 

 Female... 15.60 26.50 8.10 3.65 1.60 .58 



The above description and measurements are taken from a 

 pair of birds in the "Goss Ornithological Collection," captured 

 in Neosho county, Kansas. 



