is now the United States. With the development of primitive agri- 

 culture, it extended its range to the west and to the north as far as 

 parts of the Prairie Provinces of Canada. As stated by Ridgway 

 and Friedmann (1946:207), the range of the genus, originally and 

 since the arrival of the white man, is "Open districts of eastern 

 North America, from the western . . . Great Plains to the 

 Atlantic coast ( locally ) and from Texas and southwestern Louisiana 

 (formerly also Virginia?) northward to coast of Massachusetts, 

 southwestern Ontario, southern Manitoba, and southwestern Sas- 

 katchewan." 



Ecologically, Kansas, with which we are immediately concerned, 

 is an area of transition from the eastern hardwood forest to the 

 western mixed prairie. Primitively, the diverse conditions in this 

 transitional area provided suitable habitat for: the wild turkey, 

 Meleagris gallopavo Linnaeus; the ruffed grouse, Bonasa umhellus 

 (Linnaeus); the sharp-tailed grouse, Pedioecetes phasianellus (Lin- 

 naeus); the bobwhite quail, Colinus virginianus (Linnaeus); the 

 scaled quail, Callipepla squamata (Vigors); the lesser prairie 

 chicken; and the greater prairie chicken. Without exception each 

 of these birds, in Kansas, was at the periphery of its range. As 

 Kansas was occupied and developed by white men from the eastern 

 states, the turkey, the ruffed grouse and the sharp-tailed grouse 

 became extinct in the State, and the ranges and numbers of the 

 two prairie chickens were reduced. Recently residents of Rawlins 

 and Cheyenne counties have reported that the sharp-tailed grouse 

 is spreading from Nebraska into extreme northwestern Kansas 

 (field notes on file in Univ. Kansas Museum of Nat. Hist., for 31 

 October 1952, and 2 November 1952, R. H. Baker). Although 

 man has introduced the ring-necked pheasant, Phasianus colchicus 

 Linnaeus, to compensate partly for this loss, the fauna of gallin- 

 aceous birds in Kansas is poorer by one species; this loss, at least 

 in part, is the result of the activities of man. 



The aims of this study were to ascertain the present status of 

 the prairie chickens in Kansas, and to learn previously imknown 

 details of their life histories, habits and population behavior. Such 

 information would be expected to aid in the conservation of the 

 two species of birds. The investigation was concerned primarily 

 with the greater prairie chicken, but such information as was ob- 

 tained on the lesser prairie chicken is included. 



The co-operation and assistance rendered me by residents of the 

 Welda Area where intensive field studies were made are gratefully 

 acknowledged. Mr. William Brecheisen, Jr., was especially help- 



[6] 



