370 AMERICAN GAME BIRD SHOOTING 
This is what he has to say about ruffed grouse 
shooting : 
From the time when the mind of man runneth not 
to the contrary in matters of shooting for sport, the 
ruffed grouse, by common consent, has been classed 
with the most difficult of game birds which the sports- 
man endeavors to bring to bag under the approved 
conditions of sportsmanship, if indeed it be not the 
most difficult of all. For it taxes the sportsman’s 
nerve, patience, skill, woodcraft and endurance as no 
other bird can tax them; and all these requirements 
are necessarily supplemented by a gun of good killing 
powers, one selected with special reference to cover 
shooting; and last, but not least, a dog of more than 
ordinary intelligence and good intent and good train- 
ing, if the sport is to have any successful results and 
pleasing finish in its action. If any element of the 
sportsman’s ruffed grouse craft be missing success is 
marred accordingly. 
The ruffed grouse, in every art and article, is a bird 
to fill the sportsman’s ideal. Its habitat is in nature’s 
most picturesque setting; the bird is beautiful in its 
delicate tracings and markings, and rich and varied 
in its colorings; racy of form and faultless in sym- 
metry; wild, dashing, daring, alert, and infinitely re- 
sourceful in its crafty devices when pursued; exclu- 
sive in its habits, and, withal, a bird of rare excellence 
for the table, its flesh being of a delicate texture and 
pleasing flavor—so palatable, indeed, that it is by many 
epicures more highly prized than is the flesh of any 
