412 THE PRAIRIE CHICKEN, OR SHARPTAILED GROUSE. 



tion of the Prairie Chicken's nests here, together with what little I 

 know of the mode pursued in the Old Country for raising young 

 pheasants, induce me to believe that young Prairie Chickens could 

 be successfully reared in a paddock, with a dry sandy soil and plenty 

 of anthills and rose bushes. Ants and ant eggs are the best of food 

 for these delicate creatures. 



It is hardly likely that any Manitoban farmer will try to domesti- 

 cate them, when they are abundant in their wild state, especially as 

 they cannot be expected to compete with the common fowls as egg- 

 producers. It is also extremely unlikely that they will ever be killed 

 out, for notwithstanding the absence of respect for game laws, even 

 in the old settled districts the chickens are as thick as ever, for there 

 is all over a great deal of land that will never be brought under 

 cultivation and it is exactly suited to the chickens. 



Yet I think the experiment worth trying, and if any of the 

 gentlemen of the Society have a suitable piece of ground and 

 inclination to take the trouble, I will endeavor in the spring to find 

 him the necessary stock to start with. 



February, 1883. 



