I'I{AIHIK II KN. 11 
may be realized from the fact that in 1!H)-J the supply at from pi to 
$5 a brace nowhere met the demand. Years ago prairie chickens 
were shipi)ed east by carloads, but to-day scarcity of birds and a com- 
mendable stringency of laws practically preclude shipments. 
Many sportsmen declare that there is no better sport than ' chicken ' 
shooting. The bird uncpiestionably is one of the noblest of game 
birds. Though in speed of flight it by no means equals the ruffed 
grouse or the bobwhite, it furnishes fine sport when hunted with dogs. 
Early in the season, in suitable cover, it lies to a dog like a stone. So 
reluctant occasionally is it to fly that it can hardly be put up, and 
Professor Cooke informs the writer that several times while hunting 
in northern Minnesota he saw a pointing dog jump and catch a three- 
fourths grown prairie hen. Late in the fall, however, when gathered 
in large packs, they do not lie well. 
Early in the season — that is, during the last two weeks of August 
and the first part of September — the prairie hen afi'ords a better test 
of a dog's ability to hunt fast and to range out a mile or more from 
the gun than does the bobwhite. It is for this reason that field trials 
on ' chickens ' are always well patronized, and the dogs that win are 
highly valued. So highly esteemed is the prairie chicken as the 
quarry of ' racing ' dogs that abundant means for the restocking of 
suitable places with the species is likely to be forthcoming from field- 
trial patrons. The ideal conditions for ' chicken ' shooting are real- 
ized in a fenceless country, where it is possible for the hunter to drive, 
while the dogs range from a quarter of a mile to a mile away from 
the wagon. As soon as they point game the sportsman hurries up 
and shoots. The driver ' marks down ' the birds that escape and 
perhaps fly half a mile before alighting. Then the Avagon advances 
to where they dropped, and shooting is again in order. In some 
parts of the country the sport stops at 10 or 11 o'clock in the morning, 
because of the intense heat during the middle of the day, when the 
birds are resting in places difficult of access, and is not resumed 
before 3 or 4 o'clock in the afternoon. 
PRESERVATION AND PROPAGATION. 
The prairie hen deserves well of man. It is beneficial to agricul- 
ture, is one of the best table delicacies, and its booming call is the 
dominant spring note of the plains, as the bird is their most character- 
istic resident. Furthermore, the number of entries to the yearly field 
trials on ' chickens ' speak for it as an object of sport. In view of 
all the good qualities of the bird, the causes of its diminished numbers 
should be sought, and ade(|uate means ai)pli.e(l to preserve it fi'om 
extinction. 
At the beginning of the nineteenth century the prairie hen was 
