The Cecil Whig. [volume] (Elkton, Md.) 1841-current, 1873-01-25
The Prairie Hen or Pinnated Grouse.

The Prairie Hen or Pinnated Grouse.
From the american Sportsmen.
This fine bird, which, for its size, the
sport it shows before dogs, and it's value
on the table, we place at the head of Amer
| lean feathered game-is now only to be
found in the prairie Of the west and the
southwest. In northern Illinois, where a
few years ago, their abundance and voraci-
ty caused serious damage to the grain
fields, thus have become, thanks to the ia
| cility of sending them to the New York
markets by railroad, comparatively scarce
and dear. Ten years ago we shot grouse
within the present limits of the city of
Chicago, and their common price was one
dollar per dozen. Now We pay three dol
lars per dozen for them, and if we want a
days shooting we must go from thirty to
forty miles from town. The pinnated
grouse derives its distinguishing name
from the small wing like appendages pin
ma which projects from each side of the
neck, in both sexes of the adult bird. Will
son and INITIAL, strangely enough, assert
that the wings are only found on the males.
Wilson's description is otherwise correct,
except as to the weight. He says that
when in good order, the male weighs three
and ahalf pounds. Now we have weighed
many, probably hundreds, but we have not
found bird that came up to three pounds,
the average weight in this region being
about two.
They breed in March, and the season
continues through April, and sometimes in
late and wet spring, through May. Like
the rest of the grouse family, they are
polygamous. They make their nests on
the ground, in the middle of the largest
praries, and lay from ten to fifteen eggs,
nearly as large as those of a hen, and of a
whitish color. In common seasons, the
young birds can fly by the first of July,
and great havoc is made among them by
the market shooters, though they are not
larger than a quail, and about as fat to eat
as a boiled kid glove. Like all young
birds, they then feed principally on insects;
but as they grow older, they eat seeds and
other vegetable food, and when the wheat
and oats are ripe, they procure their chief
subsistence fIom the grain fields.
In the large and liberal system of farm
ing pursued in Illinois, the immense grain
fields contain, even after harvest, enough
scattered grain to supply the grouse, nu-
merous as they are (and we have seen five
hundred of them In one field. The i'm
mense corn crops of this country are fire.
quently left standing the largest part of the
winter, atfording constant supply of their
favorite food to the "hens,' as they are
called by the farmers; such field of stand
ing corn frequently attracting them for
many miles round. When this supply fails,
they eat acorns buds, seeds, &C., frequent
ly taking long flights morning and night
in pursuit of food.
The proper season for shooting grouse
in Illinois is from the middle of July to the
first of September; during that time they
lie well before the dogs, and as they are in
families consisting of the old cock and hen
and from ten to fifteen young birds, they
are easily scattered and with good dogs, the
whole bevy may be picked up. About the
first to the middle Of September they COL
lect in flocks composed of several families;
become wild, SO that on the approach of
the shooter or his dogs, the whole pack
will take wing, and fly perhaps mile be-
fore they alight. AS the season advances
they become more wild, till by the end of
October they can only be shot with rife,
as they sit upon fences or trees.
In cold winter mornings, they may be
seen in great numbers, sitting on stacks,
apparently torpid with the cold, and may
frequently be killed with shot gun in
great numbers. When the ground is cov-
cred with snow and their food is scarce,
they are caught in vast quantities in box
traps.
During the month of January, of one
year, ten ton of these birds are said to have
been brought to Chicago over one railroad
The average weight of these birds being
two pounds, ten tons would comprise ten
thousand individuals.
If the other railroads coming into Chica-
go from the west and south brough in as
many more each, it is evident that gentle
men who desire grouse shooting, had bet
ter hasten their coming to Illinois.
During the summer months the grouse
lie in the long grass of the prairie during
the night; about sunrise they 60 into the
grain field to feed; there they remain two
or three hours if undsturbed. They then
return to the shelter of the grass and high
weeds, where they remain quiet till five or
six in the afternoon, when they issue forth
in quest of food. From five o'clock until
dark is the best part of the day for shoot
ing: and more birds can be got in the two
hours before sunset than in all the rest of
the day.
We were of party some years ago in
Elk Grove, some thirty miles from Chica-
go. 1t was about the first of August, and
the weather was warm. We arrived about
ten in the morning, and two of the party
being inexperienced in the sport would go
out as soon as we arrived, in spite of the