236 AMERICAN GAME BIRD SHOOTING 



dawn, listening to hundreds of different voices, pitched 

 on different keys, coming from every direction and 

 from various 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 distance. One who has heard such a concert 

 can never after mistake or forget it. 



"Every few minutes this display is repeated. I 

 have seen not only one, but more than twenty cocks 

 going through this funny operation at once, but then 

 they seem careful not to run against each other, for 

 they have not yet got to the fighting point. After a 

 little while the lady birds begin to show an interest in 

 the proceedings by moving about quickly, a few yards 

 at a time, and then standing still a short time. When 

 these actions are continued by a large number of birds 

 at a time, it presents a funny sight, and you can easily 

 think they are moving to the measure of music. 



"The party breaks up when the sun is half an hour 

 high, to be repeated the next morning and every morn- 

 ing for a week or two before all make satisfactory 

 matches. It is toward the latter part of the love season 

 that the fighting takes place among the cocks, probably 

 by two who have fallen in love with the same sweet- 

 heart, whose modesty prevents her from selecting be- 

 tween them." 



Audubon reports that he tried the experiment of 

 puncturing the inflatable air-sacs on the neck of a male 

 prairie chicken. He caught one of the birds and passed 



