he wooded portions of the Eastern States to
the prairie chicken of our vast plains, the dusky grouse of the
mountain regions of the West and all their related species.

The drumming of the ruffled grouse so harmoniously breaking the
stillness of the woodland is dear to the nature-lover; no sound is more
characteristic of the prairies than the prairie chicken's melodious
booking that echoes afar like the low notes of a vast organ; the dusky
grouse's booming call, that may seem to come from a distance even when
the bird is near by, has its place in the great symphony of nature, yet
these musical sounds are being steadily and relentlessly silenced by
the gun of the sportsman. By this silencing that costs the lives of
countless hundreds of innocent and harmless birds, the agriculturist is
being robbed of one of his most powerful allies in the endless battle
against insects.

Nature has given the grouse tribe large, palatable bodies and
characteristics which render them easy marks for the hunter, with only
zest enough to the quest to make these birds what sportsmen call "good
game." She has also endowed the grouse with food habits which should
cause them to live and multiply under the protection of man. The former
characteristics, however, seem most strongly to attract mankind in
general, and the grouse is known as game rather than the insect-eating
bird that it is.

Laws have been made for the protection of the pinnated grouse, or
prairie chicken, and others of their tribe. These laws have been
enforced and have aided materially in the great work of
bird-protection. They have also, it is regrettable to state, been
violated and ignored. Too often the land owner is too lenient; being
blinded to his own interests or being keenly alive to the need of
protecting the grouse within his realm, is powerless to act because of
lack of evidence.

The prairie hen nests upon the ground, choosing her own nesting site,
performing the duties of incubation, and rearing her young unaided by
the cock. There are few wooers in bird-life so ardent as the pinnated
grouse, yet he that joins in the mating ceremony of booming morning
after morning on some chosen booming-ground or fiercely contests with
other males for the favor of the chosen one deserts her soon after the
winning.

Thus the eggs and young, having only one protector, are unduly exposed.
Since they are always on the ground until the young are able to fly
their loss is great. It