THE GAME BREEDER 169 

 THE PRAIRIE GROUSE. 



Fourth Paper. 



BY D. W. HUNTINGTON. 



I have made excellent bags of prairie telephone poles as lookout places from 

 grouse in many of the prairie states which they easily could see any moving 

 when the birds were abundant. I had no object in the fields below. One can read- 

 thoughts then of the necessity for pre- ily imagine that the grouse can not exist 

 serving and paid very little attention to on wide areas planted with fall wheat 

 the food habits of the birds, but, of since they have neither cover nor food 

 course I observed that both the prairie at the time when they are most needed, 

 grouse and the northern sharp-tailed It would be an easy and profitable 

 grouse were more plentiful in certain matter to convert the great bonanza 

 places where natural foods were abund- wheat farms into game preserves where 

 ant and where the long grasses and the thousands of birds could be shot every 

 wild roses offered protection from their season without danger of extermination, 

 natural enemies. Wild sunflowers, wild Some of the land should be devoted to 

 roses, sumac and the prairie grass were grass, wild roses, weeds, sumac and 

 abundant in the places where the grouse other foods, and covers, and the better 

 were most plentiful, aijd those who way would be to plant these foods and 

 would restore the grouse and keep them covers in long strips between the fields 

 plentiful should restore the prairie grass where the wheat is grown, 

 and the other covers and foods men- The vast corn fields of Illinois, Kan- 

 tioned, and still others referred to later, sas and other corn States have afforded 



When shooting in more recent years much protection to the grouse, but when 

 on ground where corn and wheat were the corn is harvested the birds are ex- 

 grown we found the birds in the stubbles posed to their natural enemies and the 

 and corn fields and undoubtedly the grain introduction of prairie grass and rose 

 constituted a large part of their autumn and other briars would result in saving 

 and winter food. The birds easily could many birds. Their natural enemies 

 be fed on grain in the winter and, hav- should be controlled, of course, to make 

 ing proper cover including briars of the a place for the shooting. On the moors 

 rose, blackberry and others, it should be of Scotland, since game keepers have 

 an easy matter to preserve the game in been employed to exterminate the ver- 

 cultivated regions, provided always they min, the grouse have increased in num- 

 have grass for nesting sites. bers rapidly although thousands of birds 



The rose hips are a very important are shot every season, 



winter food since they can be procured Grouse should not be bred in captivity, 



above the snow and are said to be both They should be bred wild in protected 



grit and food. fields where the natural conditions have 



On many of the big wheat farms been restored, partly at least, 



where every sunflower and wild rose and Mr. Judd, in his excellent bulletin to 



every other cover and food including the which I have referred, has listed the 



prairie grass had been removed and foods of the prairie grouse and since 



where the grouse had no protection from the bulletin is out of print I shall quote 



their natural enemies, to which they from it at length. Those who would pre- 



were unduly exposed, they quickly dis- serve the grouse will find that if they 



appeared entirely throughout vast re- will restore some of the more important 



gions. I have tramped for miles over foods enumerated and if they will de- 



such ground without finding a single stroy some of the natural enemies of the 



grouse and I observed that the hawks grouse that it will be an easy matter to 



were plentiful, using the telegraph and. keep the birds plentiful and the shooting 



