THE PRAIRIE HEN". 149 



PERIOD OF PAIRING. 



As soon as tlie winter breaks up, the pairing season com- 

 mences, generally in March or early in April ; then it is that 

 one can distinguish the well-known booming sound of the male 

 Bird, known as the "Tooting" of the Cock. This singular noise 

 is produced by the inflation and exhalation of the two small 

 bags which are found on the neck, and appear to be formed by 

 the expansion of the skin of the gullet, which, when not filled 

 with air, hangs in loose, pendulous, wrinkled folds. 



Audubon remarks: "When the receptacles of air, which, in 

 form, color, and size, resemble a small orange, are perfectly 

 inflated, the Bird lowers its head to the ground, opens its bill, 

 and sends forth, as it were, the air contained in these bladders 

 in distinctly separated notes, rolling one after another from 

 loud to low, and producing a sound like that of a large muflSed 

 drum. This done, the Bird immediately erects itself, refills its 

 receptacles by inhalation, and again proceeds with its ' Tootingsl " 



This " Tooting" can be heard at times as far off as a mile, more 

 particularly on a clear mild morning. If the air-cells be punc- 

 tured with a small sharp instrument of any kind, they cannot, 

 of course, be again inflated, and the " Tootings" consequently are 

 at an end. 



These Birds, like the Euffed Grouse, are extremely pugna- 

 cious at these times, and, during the early period of incubation, 

 the males meet at early dawn at particular spots termed ^''scratch- 

 ing grounds,''^ where they Toot and strut about with extended 

 wings and wide-spread tails, much in the pompous style of Tur- 

 key Gobblers; and, after a little while thus spent in expressing 

 their wrath and defiance, they engage in the most obstinate and 

 sanguinary conflicts, not inferior to the battles often witnessed 

 between Game Cocks. 



During these encounters, they spring up in the air and strike 

 their antagonists with the utmost fury, and oftentimes with the 

 greatest effect ; feathers are freely plucked from each other's 

 bodies, and their eyes are not unfrequently seriously injured 

 before one or other of the combatants gives way, and flies to 

 the woods for shelter. A friend of the author, who is very 



