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  GEOUSE 
  AND 
  WILD 
  TUEKEYS 
  OE 
  UNITED 
  STATES. 
  

  

  extremely 
  abundant 
  throughout 
  Ohio 
  and 
  Kentucky. 
  It 
  is 
  now 
  rare 
  

   in 
  both 
  States. 
  A 
  part 
  of 
  the 
  ground 
  it 
  has 
  lost 
  in 
  the 
  East 
  it 
  has 
  

   gained 
  by 
  a 
  westward 
  and 
  northward 
  movement. 
  It 
  has 
  followed 
  

   the 
  grain 
  fields 
  of 
  the 
  pioneers 
  of 
  the 
  plains, 
  and 
  with 
  the 
  extension 
  

   of 
  grain 
  culture 
  into 
  Minnesota 
  and 
  Manitoba 
  it 
  has 
  become 
  plentiful 
  

   there. 
  According 
  to 
  Doctor 
  Hatch, 
  it 
  was 
  by 
  no 
  means 
  common 
  when 
  

   the 
  white 
  man 
  first 
  came 
  to 
  Minnesota, 
  and 
  he 
  says 
  that 
  in 
  Illinois 
  as 
  

   late 
  as 
  1836 
  a 
  hunter 
  was 
  extremely 
  lucky 
  if 
  he 
  could 
  bag 
  a 
  dozen 
  in 
  

   a 
  day. 
  Some 
  years 
  later, 
  with 
  much 
  less 
  effort, 
  one 
  could 
  have 
  shot 
  

   50 
  in 
  a 
  day, 
  and 
  there 
  were 
  records 
  of 
  100 
  to 
  a 
  single 
  gun. 
  

  

  The 
  former 
  status 
  of 
  the 
  bird 
  in 
  the 
  East 
  is 
  well 
  indicated 
  by 
  

   Audubon's 
  classic 
  observations 
  at 
  Henderson, 
  Ky., 
  in 
  1810. 
  Audubon 
  

   says 
  : 
  6 
  - 
  

  

  In 
  those 
  days 
  during 
  the 
  winter 
  the 
  Grous 
  would 
  enter 
  the 
  farm-yard 
  and 
  

   feed 
  with 
  the 
  poultry, 
  alight 
  on 
  the 
  houses, 
  or 
  walk 
  in 
  the 
  very 
  streets 
  of 
  the 
  

   villages. 
  I 
  recollect 
  having 
  caught 
  several 
  in 
  a 
  stable 
  at 
  Henderson, 
  where 
  they 
  

   had 
  followed 
  some 
  Wild 
  Turkeys. 
  In 
  the 
  course 
  of 
  the 
  same 
  winter, 
  a 
  friend 
  

   of 
  mine, 
  who 
  was 
  fond 
  of 
  practicing 
  rifle 
  shooting, 
  killed 
  upwards 
  of 
  forty 
  in 
  one 
  

   morning, 
  but 
  picked 
  none 
  of 
  them 
  up, 
  so 
  satiated 
  with 
  Grous 
  was 
  he, 
  as 
  well 
  

   as 
  every 
  member 
  of 
  his 
  family. 
  My 
  own 
  servants 
  preferred 
  the 
  fattest 
  flitch 
  

   of 
  bacon 
  to 
  their 
  flesh, 
  and 
  not 
  unfrequently 
  laid 
  them 
  aside 
  as 
  unfit 
  for 
  cook- 
  

   ing. 
  * 
  * 
  * 
  They 
  could 
  not 
  have 
  been 
  sold 
  at 
  more 
  than 
  one 
  cent 
  apiece. 
  

   * 
  * 
  * 
  So 
  rare 
  have 
  they 
  become 
  in 
  the 
  markets 
  of 
  Philadelphia, 
  New 
  York, 
  

   and 
  Boston, 
  that 
  they 
  sell 
  at 
  from 
  five 
  to 
  ten 
  dollars 
  the 
  pair. 
  * 
  

  

  So 
  far 
  as 
  the 
  sportsman 
  is 
  concerned, 
  the 
  prairie 
  hen 
  is 
  now 
  extinct 
  

   in 
  Kentucky, 
  and 
  nowhere 
  is 
  the 
  royal 
  game 
  bird 
  even 
  approximately 
  

   so 
  abundant 
  as 
  it 
  formerly 
  was 
  in 
  that 
  State. 
  There 
  is 
  little 
  good 
  

   chicken 
  shooting 
  east 
  of 
  the 
  Mississippi. 
  The 
  best 
  now 
  to 
  be 
  had 
  is 
  

   in 
  Kansas, 
  Nebraska, 
  Minnesota, 
  the 
  Dakotas, 
  and 
  Manitoba. 
  For- 
  

   tunately 
  many 
  people 
  are 
  actively 
  interested 
  in 
  the 
  protection 
  and 
  

   preservation 
  of 
  the 
  prairie 
  hen 
  and 
  excellent 
  laws 
  in 
  its 
  behalf 
  already 
  

   exist. 
  There 
  is 
  a 
  constantly 
  growing 
  sentiment 
  in 
  favor 
  of 
  nonresi- 
  

   dent 
  hunting 
  licenses 
  and 
  a 
  legal 
  limit 
  to 
  the 
  day's 
  bag, 
  while 
  some 
  

   States 
  afford 
  the 
  bird 
  absolute 
  protection 
  for 
  a 
  period 
  of 
  years, 
  c 
  and 
  

   their 
  example 
  should 
  be 
  followed 
  wherever 
  it 
  is 
  growing 
  scarce. 
  

   The 
  passage 
  of 
  nonexport 
  laws 
  in 
  most 
  of 
  the 
  States 
  has 
  been 
  pro- 
  

   ductive 
  of 
  much 
  good. 
  These 
  State 
  laws 
  have 
  been 
  made 
  effective 
  

   by 
  a 
  recent 
  Federal 
  law 
  — 
  the 
  Lacey 
  Act 
  — 
  which 
  prohibits 
  interstate 
  

   commerce 
  in 
  game 
  killed 
  in 
  violation 
  of 
  local 
  laws. 
  Through 
  its 
  

   operation 
  the 
  sale 
  of 
  the 
  prairie 
  hen 
  was 
  virtually 
  stopped 
  in 
  1902 
  and 
  

   1903 
  in 
  all 
  the 
  large 
  cities 
  of 
  the 
  East. 
  Absolute 
  enforcement 
  of 
  this 
  

   law 
  and 
  successful 
  prohibition 
  of 
  local 
  sales 
  must 
  be 
  effected 
  before 
  

  

  a 
  Birds 
  of 
  Minnesota, 
  p. 
  163, 
  1892. 
  

   & 
  Ornith. 
  Biog. 
  II, 
  p. 
  491, 
  1835. 
  

  

  c 
  Illinois, 
  Louisiana, 
  and 
  Oregon 
  protect 
  prairie 
  hens 
  until 
  1909, 
  and 
  Michigan 
  

   and 
  the 
  Province 
  of 
  Ontario 
  until 
  1910. 
  

  

  