﻿PRAIRIE 
  HEN. 
  13 
  

  

  the 
  safety 
  of 
  the 
  bird 
  is 
  assured. 
  The 
  laws 
  relating 
  to 
  the 
  close 
  

   season 
  have 
  been 
  greatly 
  improved, 
  but 
  in 
  some 
  States 
  the 
  open 
  sea- 
  

   son 
  (four 
  months 
  in 
  Oklahoma 
  and 
  South 
  Dakota) 
  is 
  still 
  too 
  long. 
  

  

  The 
  preservation 
  of 
  the 
  prairie 
  hen 
  is 
  far 
  more 
  difficult 
  than 
  that 
  of 
  

   the 
  bobwhite. 
  The 
  bobwhite 
  is 
  more 
  prolific 
  and 
  does 
  not 
  require 
  so 
  

   extensive 
  a 
  range. 
  Moreover, 
  it 
  is 
  swifter 
  of 
  wing 
  and 
  habitually 
  

   dives 
  into 
  the 
  woods 
  to 
  escape 
  the 
  hunter. 
  Before 
  the 
  hammerless 
  

   gun 
  and 
  the 
  wide-ranging 
  bird 
  dog 
  the 
  grouse 
  of 
  the 
  open 
  prairie 
  falls 
  

   an 
  easy 
  victim. 
  It 
  has 
  to 
  contend 
  also 
  with 
  the 
  trapper, 
  besides 
  

   predatory 
  birds, 
  reptiles, 
  and 
  mammals. 
  Its 
  most 
  deadly 
  enemy, 
  

   however, 
  is 
  the 
  prairie 
  fire 
  in 
  spring, 
  which 
  destroys 
  every 
  nest 
  within 
  

   its 
  sweep. 
  E. 
  W. 
  Nelson 
  informs 
  the 
  writer 
  that 
  in 
  the 
  early 
  seventies 
  

   in 
  northwestern 
  Illinois 
  the 
  farmers 
  in 
  many 
  places 
  burned 
  the 
  

   prairies 
  in 
  spring 
  after 
  the 
  prairie 
  hens 
  nested, 
  and 
  often 
  gathered 
  for 
  

   household 
  use 
  large 
  numbers 
  of 
  the 
  eggs 
  thus 
  exposed. 
  Were 
  it 
  pos- 
  

   sible 
  for 
  stockmen 
  to 
  burn 
  the 
  grass 
  a 
  little 
  earlier 
  it 
  would 
  result 
  in 
  

   the 
  saving 
  of 
  thousands 
  of 
  birds. 
  

  

  The 
  prairie 
  hen 
  has 
  the 
  advantage, 
  however, 
  of 
  yielding 
  more 
  

   readily 
  to 
  domestication 
  than 
  the 
  bobwhite, 
  and 
  strong 
  efforts 
  should 
  

   be 
  made 
  to 
  establish 
  preserves 
  of 
  domesticated 
  birds 
  for 
  restocking 
  

   country 
  where 
  the 
  species 
  is 
  extinct. 
  Successful 
  enterprises 
  of 
  this 
  

   kind 
  would 
  be 
  profitable. 
  That 
  such 
  domestication 
  is 
  possible 
  and 
  

   even 
  feasible, 
  the 
  appended 
  quotation 
  from 
  Audubon 
  implies 
  : 
  a 
  

  

  The 
  Pinnated. 
  Grous 
  is 
  easily 
  tamed, 
  and 
  easily 
  kept. 
  It 
  also 
  breeds 
  in 
  con- 
  

   finement, 
  and 
  I 
  have 
  often 
  felt 
  surprised 
  that 
  it 
  has 
  not 
  been 
  fairly 
  domesticated. 
  

   While 
  at 
  Henderson, 
  I 
  purchased 
  sixty 
  alive, 
  that 
  were 
  expressly 
  caught 
  for 
  me 
  

   within 
  twelve 
  miles 
  of 
  that 
  village, 
  and 
  brought 
  in 
  a 
  bag 
  laid 
  across 
  the 
  back 
  

   of 
  a 
  horse. 
  I 
  cut 
  the 
  tips 
  of 
  their 
  wings, 
  and 
  turned 
  them 
  loose 
  in 
  a 
  garden 
  

   and 
  orchard 
  about 
  four 
  acres 
  in 
  extent. 
  Within 
  a 
  week 
  they 
  became 
  tame 
  

   enough 
  to 
  allow 
  me 
  to 
  approach 
  them 
  without 
  their 
  being 
  frightened. 
  * 
  * 
  * 
  

   In 
  the 
  course 
  of 
  the 
  winter 
  they 
  became 
  so 
  gentle 
  as 
  to 
  feed 
  from 
  the 
  hand 
  of 
  

   my 
  wife, 
  and 
  walked 
  about 
  the 
  garden 
  like 
  so 
  many 
  tame 
  fowls, 
  mingling 
  

   occasionally 
  with 
  the 
  domestic 
  poultry. 
  * 
  * 
  * 
  When 
  spring 
  returned 
  they 
  

   strutted, 
  ' 
  tooted,' 
  and 
  fought, 
  as 
  if 
  in 
  the 
  wilds 
  where 
  they 
  had 
  received 
  their 
  

   birth. 
  Many 
  laid 
  eggs, 
  and 
  a 
  good 
  number 
  of 
  young 
  ones 
  made 
  their 
  appearance. 
  

  

  There 
  is 
  great 
  probability 
  of 
  success 
  in 
  the 
  restocking 
  of 
  much 
  of 
  

   the 
  former 
  range 
  of 
  the 
  prairie 
  hen 
  if 
  undertaken 
  in 
  the 
  proper 
  way 
  

   and 
  properly 
  sustained 
  by 
  adequate 
  protective 
  laws. 
  Successful 
  

   results 
  would 
  materially 
  add 
  to 
  the 
  assets 
  of 
  every 
  farm. 
  

  

  FOOD 
  HABITS. 
  

  

  For 
  the 
  purposes 
  of 
  this 
  report 
  the 
  contents 
  of 
  71 
  stomachs 
  of 
  

   prairie 
  hens 
  have 
  been 
  examined. 
  Fortunately 
  this 
  material 
  repre- 
  

   sents 
  not 
  only 
  the 
  shooting 
  season, 
  but 
  all 
  other 
  months 
  except 
  July. 
  

   Most 
  of 
  the 
  stomachs 
  came 
  from 
  the 
  Dakotas, 
  Minnesota, 
  Iowa, 
  Wis- 
  

  

  o 
  Ornith. 
  Biog. 
  II, 
  p. 
  495, 
  1835. 
  

  

  