10 GROUSE AM) WILD TURKEYS OF UNITED STATES. 
of its food. This fact perhaps may be a useful hint to anyone who 
attempts to introduce the bird or to improve its environment. The 
other fruit found was of little imi)ortance — merely 0.78 percent. It 
was made up of domestic cherries, woodbine lu'rries, sumac, poison 
ivy, huckleberries, strawberries, j)artri(l<j:e berries, mistletoe, wild 
<jrapes, the berries of Soldtnufi and Sym pltoiicdi'pus, and cornel 
{Cornus (us pen folia). Of the frugivorous habits of the prairie hen 
Audubon writes: « 
In the western eoiintry. at the approach of winter, these hirds fre(iiient the 
tops of the suniacli bushes, to feed on tlieir seeds, often in sueli numbers that I 
have seen tlie bushes bent by their weifjht. 
It is important to note that often when deep snow causes scarcity 
of other supplies the sumac atfords both the prairie hen and the bob- 
white abundant food. As with the insect food, further investigation 
undoubtedly will extend the fruit list. 
The prairie hen eats a much smaller proportion of seeds, with the 
exception of grain, than the bobwhite, and in this respect is less useful 
than the latter bird. It is, however, a better weeder than any other 
grouse, and its services in this particular are worthy of consideration. 
As before stated, seeds make 14.87 percent of the annual diet. Of 
these, grass seeds form 1.03 percent; seeds of various polygonums, 
8.49 percent, and miscellaneous weed seeds, 5.85 percent. AMien the 
nature of the prairie hen's habitat is recalled it seems strange that the 
percentage of grass seed is so small. The bobwhite, in contrast, takes 
9.4() jjercent of grass seed. Like the bobwhite and other granivorous 
birds, the prairie hen often eats the seeds of the various species of 
])anicums, the paspalums, and pigeon grass {Ch(i4ochloa riridis). 
The seeds of ditierent polygonums, or snuu'tweeds, play an impor- 
tant part in the economy of the prairie hen. They form 8.49 percent 
of the food. These plants grow profusely where illy drained regions 
of the plains are under water for a few months in the year. Black 
bindweed {Polygonum convolvulus) and smartweed {Polygonum 
hipafJiffoliuni) , with the closely related dock {Rumex crlspits)^ are 
included in the bill of fare. Of the 5.35 percent of remaining mis- 
cellaneous seeds, ragweed {Ambrosia artemma^folia) is the most 
important element, but is insignificant in amount when compared 
with the same element of the bobwhite's food. Other composita^ 
are eaten by the prairie hen — wild sunflower, coreopsis {Corcojisis 
f'arda7mjtffoli(i)^ and others. The prairie hen has a liking for 
legumes, reminding one again of the l)()bwhite. It selects two of the 
hitter's favorites — cassia, and the hog peanut {Falcata comosa). It 
takes also tlie seeds of a closely related plant, the prairie mimosa 
(Aruan). It has l)een known to feed on seeds of water willow 
{Diahthera sp.), the yellow false garlic {Xothoscordnm hi vale) ^ 
a Ornith. Biog., II, p. 501, 1835. 
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