114 



GAME BIRDS OF NORTH AMERICA. 





often extraordinary, how easily the chicks will disappear 

 from view and efTectually escape all search, be it carried 

 on ever so patiently and persevcrinp^ly, even on the open 

 prairie with apparently no opportunities for conceal- 

 ment. Towards the end of August the broods arc 

 nearly full jc^rown. and later in the season many flocks 

 pack toj^ether until several hundreds are present in otit.' 

 jTatherinpT. They are then usually very wild, and, wlun 

 started, will fly often several miles before alighting, atid 

 little can be done with them over dogs. But before this 

 congregating together takes place the Prairie Chicken 

 lies well to the dog, and is one of the most desirable of 

 the game birds as an object of sport in the field. 



A covey having been located by the dog, the birds will 

 almost always lie very close, flushing in easy range in 

 twos or threes, and after, as may be supposed, all the 

 birds have either flown away or rest in the sportsman's 

 game bag, there is always still one old bird remaining, 

 which rises at length with a prodigious fluttering and 

 cackling, either just when the sportsman is reloading 

 his gun and so escapes, or else, having miscalculated 

 his time, appears when the guns are all ready for him, 

 and joins his brethren in the pocket or wagon. When 

 young, the flesh of the Prairie Hen is white, but becomes 

 dark as the bird attains its full growth. It is excellent 

 for the table, especially when eaten soon after the bird 

 is killed, for it loses flavor after having been kept for 

 a length of time, especially if, as is the case with thou- 

 sands of birds served in the Eastern cities, they have been 

 frozen, tossed about perhaps for weeks like lumps of ice, 

 and then thawed out before being cooked. The most 

 toothsome morsel in the world, after such treatment, 

 could not be expected to have much more flavor than 

 a dried chip. 



