Tombstone epitaph., 1892-11-27
HE BUFFALO
They Have Been Tndiscriminstely slaugh-
 tered by Hunters-How the
 Fowls Protect Them aelves.

selves.
 The exhilarating sport of hunting the prairie chicken on the plains of the west will soon be as extinct as that of shooting buffalo, says an Abilene cor respondent to the New York Advertiser. The quick whir-r-r of the bird is heard less and less frequently, and the hunt CTS encounter far greater wariness than of old. Only few years ago and the sportsman was in clover when he reached the prairies of Kansas. Spe- ciai ears with hunters aboard, stopped in the midst of the level plains and when the men came back it was with shoulders heavily llden with the tooth some and attractive game.
 Hut the heartless and indiscriminate slaughter, in season and out of season, to which the different varieties of grouse and quail have been subjected during the past decade has almost ruined the sport on the plains of Kansas, Ne braska. Iowa and other sections of the west. To be sure there is yet game, but it has so decreased in quantity that the present season sees not one-tenth the amount that existed a few years since.
 There is little sport more enticing than the shooting of prairie chickens or pinnated grouse. Nothing can be compared to it except the hunting of the wild turkey. While turkey is sought in the timber of the bottom lands the prairie chicken lives boldly out on the plain, and trusts to his keen- ness of vision and rapid flight to pro- lar n a s.f the fowls at home is sight to be re mcmbered. The rich. plump bodies of l the hens, shading from dark grayish brown on the breast and wings to | tight gray neck and dark head, and the ! largc- build of the males, with the dis tinguishing long black feathers on the neck, reaching down like the ends of a yoke. make delicious contrast for the lover of a rifle with the green of the prairie sod.
 They are large enough to make a rood, legitimate prey; they are excel
 ent eating, tender, rich, gamey. But heir outposts hear you and quick, | :lu.king warning is given. In an in
 tant every head drops, the bodies .rouch close to the ground and ap- parcntly disappear. Unless you arc practical hunter you will declare that half second has sufiiced for some of the birds to sink into the earth. But they are all there. This one behind a ! little grass clump. that in a tiny hollow made by some pony's foot, another l spreading its wings as it squats at the base of a weed stalk. To the amateur | eye it is remarkable if without consid- erable search more than two or three can be detected. so closely do the colors of the birds blend with the shadows and tints of the sod.
 The professional knows that they are all there and the bunch is speedily flushed. In an instant thec rise about you as if suddenly created from dust One was less than a yard from your feet, yet you did not see it. Their | flight is a peculiar one Rising to a height of from twenty to fifty feet, | they take horizontal course, churning the air rapidly with the stumpy wings until momentum is acquired, then sail ing with outstretched pinions for many rods. A prairie chicken is never awk- ward or ridiculous except when in the air. On taking flight the birds do not. like quail, go as a flock, but radiate in every direction, so that he is good | gunner indeed who makes both barrels count.
 The prairie chicken is non-migratory, | and. like quail, turkey and rabbits, might be preserved for all time if af- forded reasonable amount of protec- tion. Grouse and quail can stand a comparatively close settlement of the country. at least ono as close as most parts of the west will admit of, and | with the proper enforcement of rigidly | lrafied game laws, as well as a manly eorbearancc on the part of the sports men themselves, would preserve the now unequal ratio between the increase and slaughter. As it is now there is practically no protection. and from June to December the markets of west ern cities show forbidden game It is not alone grouse, but quail, wild tur- keys and other varieties suffer. Poach- CTS go with dogs out of season and bring in loads of the pretty game. and it finds its way mystcriously into the stalls of the cities.
 Kansas and Nebraska have laws pro hibiting the killing or offering for sale of birds except from September l to January l. Yet so iagrantly has the law been violated tlat it has become necessary for sportsmen's clubs to offer purses for information regarding viola tion in order to prevent entire extermi- nation. IL will take but short time to put an end to the sport at the present rate of decrease.
 The famous civilian scout Burgess, who IS attached to the government post in Yellowstone park, gives some inter csting facts regarding the increase of game since severe measures have been taken with the poaching trappcr. The elk, he says, are now in such abundance that they promise to give game to the hunter in season for many years tc come, while the buffalo are increasing to such an extent that the park will soon be well stocked. The same kind of vigorous measures will be necessary if the western prairies are not to be stripped of the smaller as they have been of the larger game.