THE OOLOGIST. 



137 



by the Crow's sharp beak. Removing 

 the broken shells he returned to his 

 work. The Prairie Hen, owing to its 

 shy nature, was slow in returning, but 

 before the farmer could plow around 

 the field the Crow (which by the way 

 has never been accused of timidity) had 

 made sad havoc of the remaining eggs. 



WhilT' gazing over a large meadow 

 early this season I saw a Crow drop 

 suddenly to 'he earth in a manner so 

 suspicious that I determined to watch 

 develop-nents. He arose and dashed 

 downward, again and again, until a 

 frightened Px'airie Hen flushed and flew 

 hurriedly awny. The Crew immediately 

 dropped into the grass « nd it needed no 

 guessing on my part lo convince me of 

 what was going on. 



I am led to LoJieve fr^^m the abovo in- 

 cidents tha: this style of uest-destroying 

 is very frequent and when all the mis- 

 fortunes in th3 life of "Tympanubh 's" 

 are considered it is truly wonderful that 

 they are able to show an increase. 



The Prairie Hen is a constant resi- 

 dent with us and spends its whole life 

 in one locality. They begin to flock as 

 soon as the young are able to fly and 

 continue in this state until nesting be- 

 gins the following spring, when they 

 separate in pairs. 



A flock, I am led to beaeve by their 

 number, is a single family, consisting 

 of parents and young of the jear. 



One of the most interesting perform- 

 ances of the Prairie Hen U the low 

 drumming noise made by the male at 

 the first signs of opening spring. 



If you will examine him closely you 

 will find at either side of the neck a 

 spot devoid of feathers and if you are 

 so fortunate as to get near enough to 

 see this spot in action you will enjoy a 

 novelty indeed. As the cock struts to 

 and fro displaying his many charms be- 

 fore a bevy of admiring females, these 

 bare spots are distended until they 

 quite resemble toy baloans. The drum- 

 ming noise is made by expelling the col- 



lected air through the mouth. 



On still mornings it can be easily 

 heard at a distance of three or four 

 miles and beginning about four o'clock 

 is continued with marked regularity 

 until six or after. It is one of the first 

 bfrd notes of spring, and referring to 

 my notes I find February 20th about 

 the average date. The present season 

 I heard the first drumming on Febru- 

 ary 11th, which is my earliest record. 



Tho long drawn out "^Booroeroo^' — 

 is difficult of description and perhaps 

 can be no better transposed into Eng- 

 lish than by using the phrase generally 

 attributed to it by the boys in this lo- 

 cality, "You-ole-fool." While we may 

 not sympathize with his ungallant way 

 of announcing to the sleeping world 

 the birth of a new day, may not father 

 "Tympanuchus" be forgiven for occas- 

 ionally using the expression? Perhaps 

 it is his only way of protesting against 

 the farmer's provoking custom of turn- 

 ing his nest over in the furrows. 



To see him in his most interesting 

 moods— when the determined swains 

 meet in battle royal, to decide the great 

 question as to which shall be "cock of 

 the flock" and "lord of the realm," the 

 successful one of course claiming his 

 choice of the females for his mate— will 

 occasion many wearisome a ad disap- 

 pointing trips. When at last you have 

 crawled on hands and knees to the 

 early morning rendezvous, irrespective 

 of the sticky surface and garment-soak- 

 ing dews, and have gazed upon proud 

 "Tympanuchus" dragging his wings 

 stiffly on the ground — when you have 

 watched the excited, cackling females 

 encouraging their lords to battle and 

 have heard their wild, nerve-destroying 

 laughter— for all the world like the 

 babble of a gathering of maniacs — you 

 will have felt rewarded for your trying 

 exertions. 



You will have seen a performance 

 given to no human eyes but he who is 

 willing to sacrifice personal comfort 



