SHOOTING THE PRAIRIE GROUSE 403 



chickens in Illinois, in the old days, is abbreviated from 

 a sketch from the pen of Wilmot Townsend, whose 

 charming contributions to Forest and Stream have 

 been well known for so many years : 



The prairie has been likened to the ocean, and the 

 simile is not altogether wide of the mark ; and as one 

 looks out over the boundless expanse of rolling grass 

 land that spreads on every side until land and sky 

 meet on the horizon line, it does not require a great 

 effort of the imagination to see the resemblance. 

 Though the waving grass gives life to the view, it 

 lacks the mighty heave of the ocean; that ceaseless 

 pulsing of the waters is wanting; the swelling waves 

 of prairie land seem to have stiffened and died, deserted 

 by the impulse which gave them birth. 



The mere turning of the sod reveals a rich dark 

 loam, that, without fertilizing, will yield immense crops 

 of corn and produce a wonderful return in golden 

 grain. In late autumn the chickens resort to the fields 

 of standing corn to glean, and rich pickings they find. 



On a still, clear morning the scolding of the cocks 

 begins at sunrise, and the air resounds with their kek- 

 kck! kek-kek! until long after the hoar frost has dis- 

 appeared. Then you will see flock after flock leave 

 the prairie and enter the corn, there to remain through- 

 out the day, unless disturbed. A short hour before 

 sunset they run out to the edge and spring into sturdy 

 flight for the night bivouac on the open plain. At 

 this season these camps of the prairie chicken often 

 contain thousands of individuals, representing hundreds 



