PRAIRIE CHICKEN, or PINNATED GROUSE, a familiar western gamebird (Tym panuchus americanus). The genus Tympanuchus (or Cupidonia) is particularly well characterized by a large patch of naked yellow skin on each side of the neck, ordinarily concealed by a tuft of narrow-pointed feathers attached to the skin at its anterior border. Beneath this patch is an air-sac connected with the respiratory system and which can be inflated until the skin is dis tended to the size and form of half an orange. The head-crest is small, the tail is rather short, rounded and formed of 18 rather stiff quills, and the tarsi are incompletely and lightly feathered to the toes, which are naked and con spicuously webbed at the base. The plumage is plain, the colors being various browns and yel lows with white and black, finely mottled above and more boldly barred transversely below. The neck-tufts of the male are two and one-half to three and one-half inches long, those of the fe male being considerably shorter. A full-grown male prairie-chicken is fully 18 inches long, but the females are smaller.
The changes in the centre of population of the prairie chicken as related to human settle ment of the country are interesting and still in progress. Formerly it ranged throughout all open country between the Appalachian and the Rocky Mountain systems, and from Manitoba to the Gulf Coast. As the country has become more thickly populated it has disappeared from many regions and the eastern limit of its range has moved more and more westward. At the same time the clearing of the forests has pro vided much new open country which it has been prompt to occupy, replacing other species of grouse less adapted to life on bare prairies, and becoming abundant in many places where, as in parts of Minnesota, the land is cultivated in large tracts. In this way its range has extended westward and northward as it has been cur tailed eastward. Like most of the grouse the prairie chicken is gregarious, living in flocks which become very large in the winter, when the birds show a disposition to wander. Through out most of its still wide range this species is not in any true sense migratory; but a definite northward and southward movement takes place in the upper part of the central Mississippi Val ley, ahhough according to some experienced gunners and ornithologists, this is limited to the females the males being quite stationary. In the spring parties of the males congregate at dawn on knolls, perform various antics, and from time to time inflate and empty the air sacs, thus producing a loud booming noise which is said to be audible, in the stillness of the time and place, for a mile. In a few days the females gather, when the cocks engage in fierce battles for the possession of mates, before whom they strut and swell, with drooping wings and spreading tail, with their Cupid's wings elevated and air-sacs inflated almost to burst ing, until the conquest is complete. They are monogamous and the nest of grass and weeds is built in a concealed spot on the ground and from 12 to 20 eggs, of a grayish or buff color and either unmarked or speckled with brown, are laid. They are said to hatch in about 25 days and the young, which run at birth, are cared for chiefly by the female, which has also performed the labor of incubation. Through out the summer and early autumn they remain in family parties, but later gather in larger flocks. The food consists of various kinds of berries, nuts, seeds, shoots and buds and in sects. With the development of the prairie re as a great grain-growing country the prairie chicken has come to be especially abun dant in the cultivated districts and to adopt wheat and other grains as special articles of diet. The vast numbers of grasshoppers which they destroy should, however, more than com pensate the farmer for any loss of grain which he suffers.
The prairie chicken is so prolific, that, in spite of the enormous numbers destroyed an nually by cold rains, hawks, skunks and other natural influences, and by man, it has held its own and continues to be abundant in many parts of the grain-producing prairie States. It is,
therefore, of far greater commercial importance than all other species of our native grouse combined, and not only are immense numbers consumed within those States but many thou sands are shipped to New York and other east ern markets, where its rich and delicate flesh is in demand for table use. Most States have seen the expediency of establishing close seasons and of prohibiting the use of snares and traps in its capture, so that it is now hunted almost ex clusively with the shot-gun. Many States have also prohibited its shipment for sale and have limited the number which a gunner is permitted to shoot in one day, usually to 25 or 50. Natur ally it is the great game bird of its range. Its great popularity with the masses, however, is probably due to the size of the bag which re sults from a day's shooting rather than to its gaming qualities, for in speed and other at tributes which test the true metal of the sports man the prairie chicken cannot compare with the ruffed grouse. Early in the season, when the young are not yet strong of wing and when better cover and warm weather cause the birds to lie close, bags of 50 or even 100 may be made by a good shot on the best hunting grounds, but with the advance of the season and cooler weather the birds become more alert, harder and swifter of wing, the long quick shots which are now necessary testing the skill of even the most experienced gunner. Still later noth ing but the rifle and much hard tramping is likely to yield any returns. As in the case of all similar gallinaceous birds, a strong shooting gun and good dogs are required. Whether the lat ter be setter or pointer is generally immaterial, as both may be equal in speed, ruse and train ing. For this work on the wide, little watered prairies, endurance is a prime qualification and many hunters use their dogs in relays. The best time for the sport is in the early morning and late afternoon, not only because tramping under the noonday sun is very wearying to hunters and dogs, but also because the birds cease feeding at that time and retire to sheltered galleys and ravines. The species is easily do mesticated.
It is very commonly stated that the prairie chicken was found throughout the New England and Middle States a century ago; but ornitholo gists are now practically agreed that the eastern heath hen is a distinct species, properly called T. cupido. At one time it was common, but became practically extinct 75 years ago. At the present time the only colony known to be in existence is one which inhabits the wooded hills and scrubby plains of the island of Martha's Vineyard, where the birds are seldom seen in the thick coverts which this region affords. In general habits the heath hen differs little from its western relative. This remnant of its race is absolutely protected by the Massachusetts game law and a generally sympathetic local sentiment. A third species (T. pailidicinctus) is found in the region from Kansas to Texas, and along the Gulf Coast the common prairie chicken develops a distinct local race in Texas and Louisiana. In parts of the northwest the sharp-tailed grouse (Pediovetes thasianelhis) is called prairie-chicken. See GROUSE.
Consult Baird, Brewer and Ridgway,