THE PRAIRIE HEN. 



161 



are spread out and inclined forwards, to meet the ex- 

 panded feathers of their neck, which now, like stiffened 

 frills, lie supported by the globular orange-coloured 

 receptacles of air, from which their singular booming 

 sounds proceed. Their wings, like those of the turkey 

 cock, are stiffened and declined so as to rub and rustle on 

 the ground, as the bird passes rapidly along. Their 

 bodies are depressed towards the ground ; the fire of 

 their eyes evinces the pugnacious workings of the mind ; 

 their notes fill the air around, and at the very first answer 

 from some coy female, the heated blood of the feathered 

 warriors swells every vein, and presently the battle rages. 

 Like game cocks, they strike and rise in the air to meet 

 their assailants to better advantage. Now many close in 

 the encounter ; feathers are seen whirling in the agitated 

 air, or falling around them tinged with blood. The 

 weaker begin to give way, and one after another seek 

 refuge in the neighbouring bushes. The remaining few, 

 greatly exhausted, maintain their ground, and withdraw 

 slowly and proudly, as if each claimed the honours of 

 victory The vanquished and the victors then search for 

 the females, who, believing each to have returned from 

 the field in triumph, receive them with joy." 



At noon on the 26th September, when discussing with 

 the guide the possibility of proceeding further up the 

 banks of the Eoseau Eiver on horseback, we heard the 

 sound of a gun, proceeding apparently from the river. 

 Having fired one in return, we were not surprised some 

 time afterwards to see an Indian approach. He had just 

 arrived with his family from the Lake of the Woods, by 

 the route proposed to be taken by Mr. S. Dawson and 

 myself some weeks before. He described the route in 

 the same way as the guide, and in no material respect 

 differed from the accounts we had before received from 



vol. I. m 



