102 
THE WILSON BULLETIN— June, 1922 
vacant hours into dollars, so without thought or care of the 
scarcity this practice would eventually bring in the Prairie 
Chickens’ ranks, he constructed a number of traps and non- 
chalantly set about hastening their destruction. The sons were 
as enthusiastic over this easy method of securing money as their 
father. The trapping industry was current gossip everywhere. 
“Well, how many ‘chickens’ did von get today?” was the stock 
question. 
The traps used were very simple in working principle, but a 
good deal of time was required to make a successful trap. A 
large box made of laths, wider at the bottom than at top, con- 
stituted the trap. The box was about two feet high, two or 
more feet wide, and as long as a lath. A balanced door or 
“ gangplank,” which dropped the victims into the trap, filled 
a square hole in the top; the door was made of a shingle. 
Across the center of the box or coop a board was nailed to 
make it stronger, and in this holes were bored to receive sharp- 
ened sticks. Ears of corn were placed on these for bait. The 
corn seldom failed to induce the birds to hop upon the trap 
(or run up on poles leaned against it for this purpose) and 
step on the door in their attempt to reach the corn. The door 
dropped them inside. It was weighted with a stick of wood 
on the outer end so that it always came back automatically to 
its original position, where it was ready for another cargo. The 
vertical laths which formed the sides extended above the top 
and were sharpened on the ends to prevent the birds from 
approaching the bait from any place except at the opening in 
front of the door. A rough enclosure (with one end open) 
made of tall willow poles or brush usually surrounded the 
trap. In the fall buckwheat was frequently sown in these se- 
lected spots so that the place would have a strong attraction 
when trapping operations began. Some ambitious trap own- 
ers made traps with two doors and had their birds going in 
from two sides. The traps were usually tested with domestic 
chickens before they were taken out. If properly constructed, 
the trap would be full of chickens in a very short time; if not, 
it was not worth taking out. 
A short time after the trap was set, a flock of Prairie Chick- 
ens would be seen flying toward it, and, upon sighting the corn 
bait, a few would venture in. These acted as decoys and soon 
a steady stream would be going in. Occasionally a bird would 
fathom the purpose of the trap and, catching himself, would 
