Pierce, on Prairie Chicken in Central Iowa 
105 
five were eaten at once, while the others were sorted ami the 
fresh ones used later for the table. II was small wonder that 
this species could not regain its slipping foothold on life when 
its nests and young were destroyed in this cruel and whole- 
sale manner. 
When the fields of timothy hay began to supplant the 
prairies, the Prairie Chicken accepted them as nesting places, 
but here too they met with misfortune, for the mowing ma- 
chine destroyed all the nests and young to be found at that 
season. When the hay was raked np, too, it was not unusual 
to find the mangled body of a mother bird who would not for- 
sake her treasures when the mower came along making its 
“ cutting remarks.” 
My friend, Mr. Gates, tells of many interesting characteris- 
tics of the Prairie Chicken, which he has observed during his 
sojourn in this region. They were looked upon as reliable 
weather prophets by farmers in frequent instances. Also when 
they indulged in their spring lighting and mating antics, the 
farmer knew that he would soon be working in his fields. The 
important-feeling males would go to a knoll or rise in the 
ground (the highest spot to be found always) to fight and 
boom, early morning being the preferred time. When tw]o 
cocks found themselves facing each other, they invariably 
sprang into the air and flew at each other at full speed; when 
they crashed together they were usually about three feet from 
the ground. The Prairie Chicken’s boom” is certainly a won- 
derful sound on a flue spring morning, and once heard it is 
never to be forgotten ; the bird is seldom thought of without 
the deep resounding boom coming to mind. 
My father tells of a Prairie Hen which nested in a slough 
beside a cornfield, the nest being just at the end of a corn row. 
When plowing the corn in this particular row, it was necessary 
for the team to pass over the nest, one horse on each side of it. 
The brave bird did not leave the nest until the horses were 
directly over her. They were of course frightened when she 
burst out between their legs, but the eggs hatched safely. 
Horses often stepped on the birds when they refused to de- 
sert their nests. 1 know of two boys who set some Prairie 
Chicken eggs under a domestic hen. They awaited the devel- 
opments with considerable interest, but when the little ones 
became two days old they all disappeared — ‘‘nature had re- 
claimed her own.” 
