The Reaches of the Prairie *35 



the parent would launch out into the air, catch a flying insect, 

 return to the limb, and poke the morsel into the open bill of 

 one of the young. As soon as another fugitive fly happened 

 along the operation was repeated, but the old bird, as cap- 

 ture succeeded capture, invariably would feed the youngster 

 whose turn it was to be fed. Not once did two insect morsels 

 go down the same throat twice in succession. If one of the 

 young received more food than another, it simply arose from 

 the fact that some of the bug specimens captured were larger 

 than others. In an hour's time the parent bird made forty 

 apparently successful hunting trips. Several times either the 

 aim was missed or the bird ate the quarry itself. It may be 

 argued that it is an easy matter for a mother with her three 

 children ranged in line on a limb to keep in mind the order of 

 feeding, whereas when the youngsters are all jumbled up in a 

 nest, and perhaps constantly changing places, the keeping the 

 feeding order in the parent's head may be impossible. It hardly 

 seems that we are giving credit for too much intelligence to a 

 robin or a bluebird or a jay when we say that doubtless the 

 parents know one youngster from another as well as any 

 human mother knows the difference between Tom and Bill, 

 or Maud and Jenny. 



The mourning dove is one of the most abundant birds of 

 the Grand Prairie. The farmers say that it dearly loves corn. 

 The result of this claim of the farmer has been that the dove 

 has been placed upon the list of game birds, and is now shot on 

 sight in every Illinois field from Cook County to Grand Tower. 

 The law granting the right to shoot the doves was passed only 

 recently. That is why it is the birds are still abundant. It 

 was always a source of wonder to the bird-student that the 

 tribe of mourning doves was so great even under the condi- 



