fill. Also I thank the employees of the Kansas Forestry, Fish and 

 Game Commission, especially Mr. Dave Leahy, Director, for the 

 assistance rendered in ascertaining the ranges of the two species 

 of prairie chickens. These employees as well as several graduate 

 students and faculty members at the University of Kansas gathered 

 essential data on the numbers of the greater prairie chicken killed 

 in the open seasons of 1950, 1951 and 1952. There at the University 

 Mrs. Louise Brunk gave assistance with the line drawings. The 

 drawings made by Mr. Richard Philip Grossenheider and Mr. Vic- 

 tor Hogg are identifiable by their signatiu-es. Photographs are by 

 the author, except as otherwise noted. Dr. Harrison B. TordoflF gave 

 assistance in the study of the molt in the young of the greater 

 prairie chicken, and Dr. Rollin H. Baker gave helpful criticisms, 

 suggestions and encouragement throughout the course of the re- 

 search. Both he and Dr. E. Raymond Hall gave critical assistance 

 with the preparation of the manuscript. 



The Lesser Prairie Chicken 



The writers of many accounts concerning prairie chickens in 

 Kansas do not differentiate between the two species. Therefore, 

 and because the lesser prairie chicken was not recognized as a dis- 

 tinct species until 1885, it is difficult to determine the early status 

 of the lesser prairie chicken. Probably the chief breeding range 

 of the lesser prairie chicken in Kansas always has been confined 

 to the southwestern counties. According to Duck and Fletcher 

 (1945?: 68), some early settlers in western Oklahoma recognized 

 two kinds of prairie chickens in the same area, but occurring on 

 different mating grounds. The *T)ooming and cooing kind" (greater 

 prairie chicken ) was found in the uplands, and the "gobbling kind" 

 (lesser prairie chicken) was found in the sandhills along water 

 courses. If the former breeding range as mapped by Duck and 

 Fletcher (op. cit.. Map II) in Oklahoma be extended into Kansas on 

 the basis of similar soils, the former range would have extended as 

 far east as the western part of Harper County, Kansas. 



In Kansas, the lesser prairie chicken has been taken as far east 

 as Anderson and Neosho counties. The records from Neosho County 

 are of a male and a female taken by Goss (see Goss, 1891:221) 

 near Chanute on December 31, 1878, and on January 17, 1879, 

 respectively. I have examined these mounted specimens and the 

 original catalogue of Goss in the Kansas Historical Museum, To- 

 peka, Kansas, and there is no doubt that these specimens are 

 lesser prairie chickens. These records are incorrectly cited by 



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