Stoddard, on Birds of Southern Wisconsin 
73 
will instinctively gather if allowed to live, is an extremely in- 
teresting habit, the exact nature of which is imperfectly under- 
stood. The “cooing ground” on the sandy west end of Sauk 
Prairie lias been used each Spring for over thirty years to his 
own knowledge, Mr. Ocksner says, the birds always using the 
same knoll, whether in rye, stubble, or grown to grass. The 
following observations were made from a shallow pit dug twenty- 
live yards from the knoll, while making the necessary studies 
and collecting the specimens and accessories for a group. 
The “cooing” starts sometime the last of March and con- 
tinues well into June, each day that the weather is suitable. 
Ocksner and I made about twenty trips mornings and evenings. 
The birds usually arrive very early, some were on the grounds 
before daylight two mornings that we tried to beat them, but 
on other occasions the bulk of them came in shortly after day- 
light. A few jumps high in the air as if to take the stiffness 
out of his legs and the bird was ready to perform. In “boom- 
ing” the head was lowered and well out, wings drooped till 
their tips touched the ground, tail spread and cocked slightly 
forward, long neck tufts vertically erected till tlieir tips were 
close together, and the ornamental eye patches of bright yel- 
low skin extended to the utmost. The wings were quickly 
shaken, producing a slight rattling soun.d, the lavender bor- 
dered orange neck sacks inflated to the size of small oranges, 
then comes the resonant C-A-0-0-0-0-0, H-O-O, H-O-O, rising 
and in the same tones as do, ra, me, of the musical scale. This 
note carries a long distance on the still morning air. I have 
heard it over water where the nearest land was nearly two 
miles away. Two cackling calls, much like those of domestic 
roosters, were frequently heard when the excitement was high, 
one a loud ka-ka-ka-ka-ka-a-a-a-a, and the other a long drawn 
out q-u-a-k. Sometimes two cocks would “boom” and approach 
one another sideways in a threatening manner. When actually 
fighting the tufts were down and neck sacks collapsed. They 
jump up and down, sometimes completely over one another, 
dislodging many feathers. When they back away each seems 
glad that it is over. 
In the excitement of their rapid rushes, cooing and combat, 
others may gather till seven or eight are close together. Then 
may come a lull, the birds returning to their well trodden 
stands, each a few feet from his nearest rival, till another light 
occurs, and the excitement again runs high. The center of the 
