CANADIAN RUFFED GROUSE. 85 
shotgun or rifle—very frequently the latter is used— 
knocks the bird off the limb. Should there be other 
Grouse perched in the near vicinity the report of the 
weapon does not frighten them, and the firing is contin- 
ued until a number of birds are tossing upon the ground, 
and the remainder, at length realizing that so much noise 
means serious danger, betake themselves to more secure 
retreats. When the rifle is employed for this kind of 
shooting, it is de rigueur that the head alone should be 
cut off, and any marring of the body by the bullet is 
to be condemned, and the marksman adjudged to be 
more lacking in skill than if he had missed the bird alto- 
gether. This shooting away the head by a single ball 
is not such a difficult feat as it may seem; for, in the first 
place, the distance between man and bird is usually quite 
short, possibly averaging not over ten yards, and the 
bird does all it can to insure a successful shot by stand- 
ing bolt upright, and, with its neck stretched to the 
fullest length, remains as if carved in stone. The habits 
of the Canadian Grouse are the same as its relative of 
the Eastern part of the United States, and the description 
of one will answer for both. On account of the wooded 
character of the country it inhabits, it is not as commonly 
shot over a dog “at point” as is the Ruffed Grouse, 
but in any favorable locality it would le as well, flush 
and present as favorable a mark for the sportsman, and 
show as much dexterity in evading his shot, by placing 
trees between itself and the gun, as does its relative of 
more southern climes. 
Like all gallinaceous birds this Grouse rises with a 
resounding whir-r of the wings, but, as is the case with 
all the species, it can also take wing and steal away with- 
out making the slightest sound whatever. It seems to 
be almost an act of volition on the part of the bird 
