10 GROUSE AND WILD TURKEYS OF UNITED STATES. 
good (iualitit's and as j)r()por efforts for its re introduction into parts 
of its former range will ahiiost certainly be successful, it is hoped 
that the undertakinof will not long be delayed. It is unquestionable 
that the presence of this bird will add appreciably to the value of any 
farm. 
THE PRAIRIE HEN. 
(TunipaitiicJius atncricaiiiis.) 
The prairie hen, or " prairie chicken,' inhabits the western prairies 
from Manitoba to southern Texas and Louisiana and from Ohio to 
Nebraska. The birds of southern Texas and Louisiana " are smaller 
and darker than the common bird. This big grouse, resembling a 
brownish-gray hen, adds animation to the western prairies and is as 
characteristic of them as the mockingbird is of the South. In the 
nuptial season the birds assemble every morning at daybreak on little 
hillocks on the plains, and the cocks strut about with wings drooping, 
tail spread, and the large orange-colored sacs on the sides of the neck 
fully inflated. At intervals they lower their heads and emit a singu- 
lar booming love note that can be heard more than a mile, and is one 
of the most striking bird notes in the general spring chorus. The 
rivalry of the males at these gatherings often leads to fierce fights. 
Finally all find partners, separate into pairs, and make nests in 
grass-lined depressions among standing grass or similar shelter, 
where about a dozen eggs are laid to a clutch. Generally only one 
brood is raised in a season. The young, like those of other gallina- 
ceous birds, leave the nest as soon as they are hatched and run about 
with the hen in search of food. In summer prairie hens roost on the 
ground in a family covey, as does the bobwhite, but in winter, in 
many sections, they roost in trees. In the fall several coveys congre- 
gate in a pack, after the fashion of ptarmigans and crested quail. 
Prof. F. p]. L. Beal informs the writer that at Ames, Iowa, during 
the early eighties, he frecpiently found, packs numbering as many as 
a thousand birds, and that they habitually roosted in the long grass 
l)eside sloughs. The prairie hen is migratory in the northern i)art of 
its range, and to a certain extent farther south also. The well-known 
authority on migration. Prof. W. W. Cooke, says:'^ 
In XovciiiIxT jiiHl Dcconiher Inr^'o tiocks of i»rairio c-hu-k»>ns come from nortli- 
(M-n lowji Mild soutlHM-n Minnesota to settle for the winter in northern Missouri 
and sontlicrn Io\v;i. This mi^'ration vari<'s in hnllc witli th(^ severity of the 
winter. 
From a gjistiononiic point of view the prairie hen deserves high 
])raise; it is larger than the ruffed grouse, sometimes weighing 3 
l)()un(ls, and has a delicious flavor. The flesh of young birds is light- 
colored, of old ones dark. The estimation in which the bird is held 
<' TinniKunichusi awrricoints nttiratrri (Rendire). 
& Rul. 2, Div, EcQii, Orntth., Dept. Agri., p. 105. 1888, 
I 
