PRAIEIE CHICKENS — PINNATED GROUSE. 285 



adjacent to stubble-fields, but in time of drought they 

 do not seem to change their habitation, for in the early 

 morning, when the dew is on the meadow, and the leaf- 

 lets are freshened with its pearly drops, the birds wander 

 through these elysian fields, and archly pick them from 

 the glistening blades of grass. At such times, refreshed 

 with the water they find in their cooling retreats, they 

 are prepared for the day' s siege of heat. I have often 

 seen them drinking in creeks and at the edges of marshy 

 ponds, but they are an upland bird, and while they must 

 have water for sustenance, the same as all animated life, 

 yet they require little of it, and that not frequently. 



The male grouse is a polygamous old rooster, and 

 his vanity is equal to his handsome appearance. In 

 the spring-time, when the hens gather together in 

 flocks, and mUdly associate together, the lordly old chaps 

 strut around, their air-sacs filled with wind, their minds 

 vnth conceit, and they try in different methods to attract 

 the attention of the gentler sex, that they may entice one 

 more into their harem. Early in the morning, their flow- 

 ing ' ' boo-woo-woo ' ' is wafted over the awakening fields, 

 and these old cocks promenade up and down, longing for 

 some ambitious rival to throw down the gage of battle 

 and meet him in fierce contest. They don't have to wait 

 long, for soon one equal in valor runs toward the boom- 

 ing bird; they eye one another with fierce hate; then, as 

 if to tell the other birds of the many victories he has 

 won. the bird who first held the citadel swells out in 

 conscious' pride, and his orange-colored neck expands 

 until it seems as if the sacs would burst, and running 

 quickly along, he emits a "boo-woo-woo," prolonging the 

 last note until its echoes, wafted on the morning wind, 

 can be heard for miles, when it dies out in sweet, mourn- 

 ful cadence. The new arrival goes through the same 

 performance — utters the same cries; then they warily 



