fi^Ainifj lli!.iN, 
l)lue-eyed grass {SuyrincJiiutn y ram uio idea) ^ shepherd's })urse {Bur.sa 
h ursa- panto rU)^ mercury seeds {Acalypha sp.), crotoii seeds {Croton 
sp.), and seeds of piirshine (Portidaca oleracea), the seeded pods of 
the latter being plucked. 
As a grain eater the prairie hen heads the native* gallinaceous 
birds. Everybody who lias gone * chicken " shooting knows how 
closely the bird is associated with stul)l)lc fields. The stomachs and 
crojjs examined in the investigation contained iU.OC) percent of grain. 
The bobwhite, another busy stubble feeder, takes only 17.38 percent. 
The stomach of a grouse shot in June in Nebraska contained 100 
kernels of corn and 500 grains of wheat. J. A. Loring, formerly of 
the Biological Survey, during December in Nebraska found prairie 
hens feeding in wheat stubble, about straw stacks, and along the edges 
of cornfields. Doctor Hatch, in writing of their granivorous habits, 
says : « 
The j^rain tiokls afforded both food and protection for them, until tlio farmers 
comphiined of them bitterly, but not half so bitterly as they did afterwards of 
the bird destroyers who ran over their broad acres of wheat, oats, and corn 
in the order of their ripening'. 
Buckwheat, barley, oats, and millet are relished, but corn appears 
to be the favorite cereal, amounting to 19.45 percent of the annual 
food. Other grain, principally wheat, was in the ratio of 11. Gl per- 
cent. Amos W. Butler reports that in Indiana, during September, 
fields of ripening buckwheat are favorite feeding grounds.'^ There is 
reason to believe that sprouting grain is sometimes injured. Audubon 
speaks of such injury in Kentucky, where the bird was extremely 
abundant.'" 
Like other gallinaceous birds, the prairie hen likes mast, though 
naturally it obtains much less than the ruffed grouse. The stomach 
contents showed the beaked hazelnut {Corylus rostrata) and acorns, 
including, among others, those of the scrub oak {Quercus nana) and 
the scarlet oak {Q. coccinea). Like the rufl'ed gi'ouse, it swallows 
acorns whole. A bird shot in Minnesota in March had bolted 28 
scarlet-oak acorns. 
LEAVES, FLOWEUS. AND SHOOTS. 
Like other grouse the prairie hen is an habitual browser, to the 
extent of 25.01) percent of its food. This is divided as follows: Twigs 
a Birds of Minnesota, p. 163, 1892. 
bAnn. Rei)t. Dept. Geol. Ind., 1807, p. 758. 
cOrnith. Biog., II, p. 491, 1835. 
G5G8— No. 1*4—05 m 3 
