﻿PRAIKIE 
  HEN. 
  17 
  

  

  blue-eyed 
  grass 
  (Sisyrinchium 
  graminoides) 
  , 
  shepherd's 
  purse 
  {Bursa 
  

   hursa-pastoris) 
  , 
  mercury 
  seeds 
  (Acalypha 
  sp.), 
  crotpn 
  seeds 
  (Croton 
  

   sp.), 
  and 
  seeds 
  of 
  purslane 
  (Portulaca 
  oleracea), 
  the 
  seeded 
  pods 
  of 
  

   the 
  latter 
  being 
  plucked. 
  

  

  As 
  a 
  grain 
  eater 
  the 
  prairie 
  hen 
  heads 
  the 
  native 
  gallinaceous 
  

   birds. 
  Everybody 
  who 
  has 
  gone 
  ' 
  chicken 
  ' 
  shooting 
  knows 
  how 
  

   closely 
  the 
  bird 
  is 
  associated 
  with 
  stubble 
  fields. 
  The 
  stomachs 
  and 
  

   crops 
  examined 
  in 
  the 
  investigation 
  contained 
  31.06 
  percent 
  of 
  grain. 
  

   The 
  bobwhite, 
  another 
  busy 
  stubble 
  feeder, 
  takes 
  only 
  17.38 
  percent. 
  

   The 
  stomach 
  of 
  a 
  grouse 
  shot 
  in 
  June 
  in 
  Nebraska 
  contained 
  100 
  

   kernels 
  of 
  corn 
  and 
  500 
  grains 
  of 
  wheat. 
  J. 
  A. 
  Loring, 
  formerly 
  of 
  

   the 
  Biological 
  Survey, 
  during 
  December 
  in 
  Nebraska 
  found 
  prairie 
  

   liens 
  feeding 
  in 
  wheat 
  stubble, 
  about 
  straw 
  stacks, 
  and 
  along 
  the 
  edges 
  

   of 
  cornfields. 
  Doctor 
  Hatch, 
  in 
  Avriting 
  of 
  their 
  granivorous 
  habits, 
  

   says 
  : 
  a 
  

  

  The 
  grain 
  fields 
  afforded 
  both 
  food 
  and 
  protection 
  for 
  them, 
  until 
  the 
  farmers 
  

   complained 
  of 
  them 
  bitterly, 
  but 
  not 
  half 
  so 
  bitterly 
  as 
  they 
  did 
  afterwards 
  of 
  

   the 
  bird 
  destroyers 
  who 
  ran 
  over 
  their 
  broad 
  acres 
  of 
  wheat, 
  oats, 
  and 
  corn 
  

   in 
  the 
  order 
  of 
  their 
  ripening. 
  

  

  Buckwheat, 
  barle} 
  7 
  , 
  oats, 
  and 
  millet 
  are 
  relished, 
  but 
  corn 
  appears 
  

   to 
  be 
  the 
  favorite 
  cereal, 
  amounting 
  to 
  19.45 
  percent 
  of 
  the 
  annual 
  

   food. 
  Other 
  grain, 
  principally 
  wheat, 
  was 
  in 
  the 
  ratio 
  of 
  11.61 
  per- 
  

   cent. 
  Amos 
  W. 
  Butler 
  reports 
  that 
  in 
  Indiana, 
  during 
  September, 
  

   fields 
  of 
  ripening 
  buckwheat 
  are 
  favorite 
  feeding 
  grounds. 
  6 
  There 
  is 
  

   reason 
  to 
  believe 
  that 
  sprouting 
  grain 
  is 
  sometimes 
  injured. 
  Audubon 
  

   speaks 
  of 
  such 
  injury 
  in 
  Kentucky, 
  where 
  the 
  bird 
  was 
  extremely 
  

   abundant. 
  

  

  Like 
  other 
  gallinaceous 
  birds, 
  the 
  prairie 
  hen 
  likes 
  mast, 
  though 
  

   naturally 
  it 
  obtains 
  much 
  less 
  than 
  the 
  ruffed 
  grouse. 
  The 
  stomach 
  

   contents 
  showed 
  the 
  beaked 
  hazelnut 
  (Corylus 
  rostrata) 
  and 
  acorns, 
  

   including, 
  among 
  others, 
  those 
  of 
  the 
  scrub 
  oak 
  (Quercus 
  nana) 
  and 
  

   the 
  scarlet 
  oak 
  (Q. 
  coccinea). 
  Like 
  the 
  ruffed 
  grouse, 
  it 
  swallows 
  

   acorns 
  whole. 
  A 
  bird 
  shot 
  in 
  Minnesota 
  in 
  March 
  had 
  bolted 
  28 
  

   scarlet-oak 
  acorns. 
  

  

  LEAVES, 
  FLOWEKS, 
  AND 
  SHOOTS. 
  

  

  Like 
  other 
  grouse 
  the 
  prairie 
  hen 
  is 
  an 
  habitual 
  browser, 
  to 
  the 
  

   extent 
  of 
  25.09 
  percent 
  of 
  its 
  food. 
  This 
  is 
  divided 
  as 
  follows 
  : 
  Twigs 
  

  

  o 
  Birds 
  of 
  Minnesota, 
  p. 
  163, 
  1892. 
  

  

  6 
  Ann. 
  Kept. 
  Dept. 
  Geol. 
  Ind., 
  1897, 
  p. 
  758. 
  

  

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

  

  6568— 
  No. 
  24—05 
  m 
  3 
  

  

  