Cecil B. Sturnum, part-time bird-watcher and full-time skeptic, has come to Seward County to discredit a report that the rare Prairie Folly has been sighted. “It’s a hoax,” Sturnum said grumpily. “The Prairie Folly hasn’t been seen in 150 years. The bird is extinct.”

The Prairie Folly, an endangered species, is unique. It is the only bird in the world with ears.

“Birds don’t have ears,” Professor Von Finch told this reporter. Von Finch is an ornithologist at Nebraska Tech and an expert in all things avian. 

The Hatfields say there is no Prairie Folly. It doesn’t exist.

The McCoys disagree. Vehemently. “If the folly doesn’t exist,” the McCoys yell at the Hatfields, “then why is Seward, Nebraska, hosting The Great Folly Hunt?!?”

The Hatfields call the McCoys idiots and shout, “The Prairie Folly is a mythical bird! The town of Seward just made it up!”

A Prairie Folly is a rare bird of the tall grass prairie. It’s so rare, in fact, that it doesn’t even exist. That’s pretty rare. Though some folks in Seward County swear they have sighted the bird, experts say it’s highly unlikely, to the point of impossible.