112 FEATHERED GAME 



and honey-combing the soft mold in an eager 

 pursuit of breakfast after their journeyings. 

 In fact, these birds are decidedly nocturnal in 

 their habits. The main business of their lives 

 is transacted by the light of the moon, and dur- 

 ing the day (when out of season) they take 

 their rest from their midnight wanderings, 

 basking in the sun in the openings among the 

 birches of the side-hills, ^'lazying around" in 

 the brushy ledges until their healthy appetites 

 again demand attention. About sundown they 

 brighten up and begin their hunt for food, fly- 

 ing out into the open glades to push their long 

 noses into the moist soil of the brook banks. In 

 Russia the sportsman takes advantage of this 

 habit and about sunset places himself in the 

 edge of the woods bordering some likely feed- 

 ing ground, and facing the western light, shoots 

 them as they fly out to feed. This is called 

 ' ' stand shooting, ' ' a method, I think, almost un- 

 tried in America. My nearest approach to it 

 happened one evening when with dog and gun 

 I started for a nearby cover to see what was the 

 prospect for sport with grouse in the morning. 

 It was early in November, when after a long 

 drought a fierce rainstorm had raged for sev- 



