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[OWA ACADEMY OF SCIENCE 
OEDEE, GALLII^AE: GALLINACEOUS BIEDS. 
Bo'b-white: Quail. Beginning with the boh-white I shall give only a brief 
statement regarding each of our more common game-birds and water birds. 
They are all rapidly becoming rare birds in Polk county as summer residents, 
and I shall merely try to give a few suggestions as to where they can yet be 
found. 
The bob-white is a yearly resident with us and can be found best in the 
spring and early summer in the quiet, open woods v/here there is considerable 
underbrush but not a thick growth of timber. In the fall they are often met 
with in flocks in the fields or woods, but because of the man with the gun are 
very wild at that time. Their nesting habits are like those of our domestic 
chickens except that the nest is located in a very quiet, secluded spot, as far as 
possible from the houses or places of labor of man. 
Ruffed Grouse: {Pheasant). A bird of the deep, quiet woods, this magni- 
ficent drummer is still sometimes met with in Polk county. The ruffed grouse 
is also most easily found in the spring, early April being tiie best month. Only 
in the deep woods will he now be found, and mostly northwest of Des Moines, 
in the wooded hills near the Des Moines river or Beaver creek. 
Prairie Hen: ‘Hrairie Chicken:' More common than the ruffed grouse in 
this county, we will meet with the prairie hen most often near or in the edge 
of a grain field near a brush-covered hill or a thick wooded strip. Also a 
yearly resident, the prairie chicken is seen in the early fall in flocks of from 
fifteen to fifty, flying from field to field where food is to be found at that time 
of year. Its nesting habits are also like those of the domestic fowl. 
OEDEE, LIMICOLAE: SHORE BIEDS. 
Kildeer Plover. Recognized by its cry, the killdeer plover is abundant one 
year and very rare the next along our streams and marshes. It nests in 
swampy meadows, arriving in March and not leaving until late November. It 
is most easily found in early spring and late summer. 
American 'Woodcock. The king of our game-birds, the American woodcock is 
a thing of the past in Iowa, another tribute to the greed of the American 
hunter, for this bird was also once a well known bird in these parts. 
I have only found the v/oodcock twice in Polk county, both of those times 
along the river in the woods between Camp Douglas and the mouth of Beaver 
creek. 
Spotted Sandpiper: '^Teeter." As yet a common bird in Polk county, the 
spotted sandpiper may be found from April until late October along nearly any 
of our roadside or woodland brooks, and along the rivers and larger creeks. 
The nest of this sandpiper is to be found in such a location as is chosen by 
the meadow-lark. 
OEDEE, paludicolae: ceanes, bails, etc. 
American Coot: Mud Hen. Still a comparatively common bird about our 
sw'ampy ponds and river bottoms, the mud hen is known by all the hunters 
and the boys who spend much time in those places. Arriving here early in 
March, the mud hen stays until late October or November, building its nest 
on a decayed reed bed in a swamp or on a mucky tussock in a marshy place 
where the eggs and young are always damp. 
