THE AUDUBON BULLETIN 
1931 
Save the Prairie Chicken for Illinois 
(A Plea for Co-operation and Action) 
By Dr. ALFRED O. Gross 
Bowdoin College, Brunswick, Maine 
In the early pioneer days the prairie chicken was abundant in favor- 
able places throughout the Middle West, but today it is gone from much 
of its former range and there are mere remnants of the great flocks left 
in very restricted prairie sections. In I[]linois it is represented by compara- 
tively small numbers, chiefly in the northern and central sections of the 
state. ‘his characteristic and most unique bird of our prairies, in a rela- 
tively short time, will be but a memory in Illinois unless all those interested 
in its existence rally at once to its aid. 
In Wisconsin, the prairie chicken, though present in diminished num- 
bers, still ranks as a very important game bird. The Research Bureau of 
the Conservation Commission of that state is sponsoring a scientific investi- 
gation which is yielding facts destined to be important in the conservation 
of the prairie chicken. “There are many factors which are important in 
the control of the numbers of birds. Some of the existing conditions, such 
as adverse weather during the breeding season and parasites and diseases, 
are not subject to our control, but there are others, such as excessive hunt- 
ing, lack of breeding areas, excess of predators, etc., in which man can do 
much to alleviate the adverse conditions. 
It has long been recognized that the encroachment of agriculture on 
the feeding and breeding areas of the Middle West has been an important 
factor which has led to the diminution in the numbers of the prairie 
chicken. In Wisconsin, fortunately for the birds, there are thousands of 
acres in the great central plain which are totally unfit for agriculture, but 
which do provide an ideal environment for the prairie chicken. It has been 
proposed, and there is great probability of immediate action, that large 
areas of tax-delinquent lands will be bought by the Conservation Com- 
mission to be used as preserves to give absolute protection to the prairie 
chicken and other valuable birds which abound in those sections. Each 
preserve will be provided with feeding stations and the areas will be sys- 
tematically improved in other ways to make them more attractive to the 
