140 THE OREGON SPORTSMAN 



"After the disappearance of snow and the coming of warmer 

 weather, the chickens meet every morning at gray dawn in com- 

 panies of from six to twenty on some selected hillock or knoll 

 and indulge in what is called 'the dance.' This performance I 

 have often watched. At first, the birds may be seen standing 

 about in ordinary attitudes, when suddenly one of them lowers 

 its head, spreads out its wings nearly horizontally and its tail 

 perpendicularly, distends its air sacs and erects its feathers, then 

 rushes across the 'floor,' taking the shortest of steps, but stamp- 

 ing its feet so hard and rapidly that the sound is like that of a 

 kettle drum ; at the same time it utters a sort of a bubbling crow, 

 which seems to come from the air sacs, beats the air with its 

 wings, and vibrates its tail so that it produces a low, rustling 

 noise, and thus contrives at once to make as extraordinary a 

 spectacle of itself and as much noise as possible." 



"As soon as one commences all join in, rattling, stamping, 

 drumming, crowing, and dancing together furiously; louder and 

 louder the noise, faster and faster the dance becomes, until at 

 last, as they madly whirl about, the birds are leaping over each 

 other in their excitement. After a brief spell the energy of the 

 dancers begins to abate, and shortly afterward they cease or 

 stand and move about very quietly, until they are again started 

 by one of their number 'leading off.' " 



W. L. F. 



USE OF DEER MEAT FOR BAITING TRAPS. 



BY 

 BEN S. PATTON 



"When the Oregon game laws were revised about two years 

 ago, it was made unlawful to use the flesh of any game animal 

 or bird for baiting traps. With certain hunters and trappers 

 who have been accustomed to taking more or less liberty in such 

 matters, this law has been criticised a good deal. They have 

 claimed that such bait was necessary in order to catch predatory 

 animals such as the wolf, cougar and others that are so destruc- 

 tive to game. The same idea has prevailed to some extent with 

 other people who are interested in game protection, but have 

 little knowledge of these predatory animals and the methods of 



