402 AMERICAN GAME BIRD SHOOTING 
up and sent forward for the dead birds. They advance 
very gingerly, and, picking them up, bring them neatly 
to hand. One of the dogs brings his always by the 
wing or neck, while the other grasps his bird about 
the body, and seems to rejoice in the huge mouthful 
that he has; yet he never bites nor apparently even 
pinches the bird. 
Long before this both men had been watching the 
disappearing bevy, which flew far, and at last seemed 
to go down in a slough of high grass which inter- 
rupted the stubble. Here the young birds, lying like 
stones, were pointed by the dogs and walked up by 
the gunners, one after another, until almost the whole 
covey was down; and so, very likely, it went on all 
through the day, until the heat of the midday sun be- 
came too strong for walking or shooting or dogs, and 
a couple of hours’ rest was taken. 
Late in the afternoon this was repeated, and some- 
times a great bag was made; but, after all, while this 
was killing, and was exciting enough, it was not what 
in these days would be called sport. The young birds 
lie very close, they present a large mark, and are too 
easy to hit. 
The great destruction finally led to the almost total 
extermination of the pinnated grouse of the West in 
regions where it had always been most abundant, and 
to-day the sportsmen of that region are bearing the 
burden of the sins of their fathers. 
The following charming account of shooting prairie 
