BIRDS OF KANSAS. 229 



Iris and feet brown; bill and claws dark brown to dusky. 



This bird inhabits the open prairies during the summer 

 months, retiring in winter to the ravines and wooded lands; 

 and when the snow is deep and the weather severe, often hide 

 and roost beneath the snow. They feed chiefly on grasshop- 

 pers, seeds, buds, blossoms, berries, etc. 



Their flesh is lighter in color and more highly esteemed than 

 that of the Prairie Hen. When walking about on the ground 

 they stand high on their legs, with their sharp-pointed tail 

 slightly elevated, and, when flushed, rise with a whirring sound 

 of the wings, uttering as they go a guttural ' ' Kuk, kuk, kuk, ' ' and 

 swiftly wing themselves away in a direct course. The birds have 

 several cackling notes, and the males a peculiar crowing or low 

 call, that in tone sounds somewhat like the call of the Turkey. 

 In the early spring, as the love season approaches, they select a 

 mound or slight elevation on the open prairies for a courtship 

 ground, where they assemble at early dawn, the males dancing 

 and running about in a circle before the females, in a most ludi- 

 crous manner, facing each other with lowering head, raised 

 feathers and defiant looks, crossing and recrossing each other's 

 paths in a strutting, pompous way, seldom fighting, each acting 

 as if confident of making the greatest display, and thus to win the 

 admiration of and capture the hen of his choice. These meet- 

 ings and dances are kept up until the hens cease laying and be- 

 gin to sit. The hens attend wholly to the hatching and rearing 

 of the young, and are attentive and watchful mothers. 



Their nests are placed in a tuft of grass or under a low, stunted 

 bush; a hollow worked out in the ground to fit the body, usually 

 lined with a few blades of grass arranged in a circular form. 

 Eggs six to thirteen, 1.67x1.24; varying from light clay or drab 

 to olive brown, often plain, but generally speckled with fine dot- 

 tings of dark brown; in form, rather pointed oval. 



FAMILY PHASIANID^. PHEASANTS, ETC. 



Hind toe small, short (much less than half as long as lateral toes), and in 

 serted above the level of the anterior toes. Tarsi with spurs; head naked, or 

 else tail long and vaulted. (Ridgway.) 



