the various cultivated legumes were readily identified. Leaves of 

 grass seemingly were more thoroughly digested, but could be 

 identified as such when found in droppings. 



The greater prairie chicken ordinarily feeds early in the morning 

 and late in the afternoon. In winter the usual behavior of the flock 

 intensively studied near Welda was to fly to and from the feeding 

 area, but some flocks were observed to walk to adjoining loafing 

 cover from the feeding area. A female that was feeding on the 

 leaves of weeds pulled off whole leaves approximately three inches 

 long. Captive birds fed in similar fashion on lettuce leaves and 

 swallowed in one piece leaves that were estimated to be 10 square 

 inches in area. Whole seed-heads of crested plantain, Plantago 

 aristata Michx., and parts of seed heads of sorghum with several 

 seeds attached were found in crops. The manner of "browsing" is 

 much like that of the turkey; the food is grasped and removed from 

 the plant by an upward pull. Greater prairie chickens were never 

 observed to scratch or otherwise attempt to uncover food on the 

 ground, nor were they observed to browse in trees, although they 

 were seen in trees in the winter of 1949-1950. 



Habit, or an attachment to a known feeding area, seems to govern 

 the selection of a feeding place. In the winter of 1950-1951, F-2 was 

 used by 50-60 prairie chickens and a number of hogs and cattle. 

 By spring, feed seemed to be gone, yet the birds continued feeding 

 there while the same foods were abundant at F-1. The birds were 

 observed to thresh soybeans from the pods at this time of scarcity. 

 In the autumn, entire seed pods of soybeans were found in crops. 



The data obtained from the analysis of crop- and gizzard-contents, 

 from birds taken in the hunting season, are summarized in Table 4. 

 The bulk (74 per cent) of the food was seeds and leaves of cul- 

 tivated crops. Only 18 per cent was other plant material. Weed 

 seeds (8 per cent) probably were used as much in October as in 

 any other month. 



Of the greater prairie chickens collected in July and August, 

 1951, three adults and five juveniles had food items in the crop or 

 gizzard. Only a trace of insect remains was found in the adults, 

 but in juveniles, insects made up approximately 25 per cent of the 

 total volume of food, and occurred in each crop and gizzard that 

 contained food. One individual had fed almost entirely on the 

 larvae of a noctuid moth. The most important food item in summer, 

 found in crops and gizzards of both adults and young, was oats; 

 second in importance were the leaves of Korean lespedeza and 

 other dicotyledonous plants. Seeds of four species of weeds were 



[45] 



