8o GAME-BIRDS AT HOME. 



had driven it from Minnesota. It became much 

 wilder than the common grouse, however, and 

 when the coveys were packing into large flocks 

 there was a period of two or three weeks before 

 they became too wild to lie to a dog, when it 

 taxed all the skill of both dog and master to 

 secure a shot before the snowy tails were out 

 of reach. There were times when we sighed for 

 something more difficult than the pinnated 

 grouse-shooting of Minnesota, though that was 

 hard enough at times. When we sighed we 

 generally made a trip to this part of Wisconsin, 

 and our prayers for something wild and swift 

 were always fondly answered. 



Gayly the dog raced over the prairie and, fresh 

 from a bath in the singing brook against the 

 breeze of a cool September morning, dove through 

 grass and ferns and cantered over the swells. 

 He knew the game right well, and, at a pace that 

 would have astonished an eastern dog-trainer, 

 scattered the lavender rays of the aster and 

 bounded over the purpling boneset. Half a 

 mile ahead, and as far on each side of our course, 

 he galloped over the prairie, when, on a long 

 beat, he suddenly wheeled and dropped flat, as a 



