88 AMERICAN GAME BIRD SHOOTING. 



by tlieir broods, as these always keep under cover as 

 much as possible, to avoid the prying eyes of their ene- 

 mies. They are readily found, however, with the aid of 

 a good dog, as they exhale a strong scent, lie well to a 

 point, and do not scatter so easily as other members of 

 the family. They, therefore, afford capital sport, and 

 their flesh being white, tender, and i)alatable, they are 

 entitled to the respect of the naturalist, the sportsman, 

 and the epicure. 



One of the best day's sport I ever had with them was 

 in Eastern Idaho, where tliey are very abundant. I was 

 in the company of three gentlemen, who were true lovers 

 of the gun, for the excitement of camping out, the com- 

 munion with nature, and the health-giving tramping 

 over mountain and moor, was more pleasant to them 

 than the mere killing of birds. Leaving town in a 

 wagon drawn by two sturdy and high-spirited mus- 

 tangs, we drove until we came to some stubble-fields. 

 Alighting there, we tied the team to the fence, called 

 out the dogs, and sent them into the fields, for my 

 companions believed it would be no use beating up the 

 ground outside, as they said that the birds always flew 

 into wheat-fields, so that they could nqi, be trailed by 

 a dog, whereas the prairie-chicken travelled to such 

 23laces on foot. I was the only one in the party who 

 carried a breech-loader, the others preferring their 

 reliable friends, the muzzle-loaders, on the ground that 

 they could fire any kind of shot they pleased from them 

 during the day, according as it was wanted, without 

 being compelled to carry a heavy load of different kinds 

 of cartridges. The man who supplied me with shells 

 filled them with three and a half drachms of coarse pow- 

 der, and one and one-fourth ounces of No. 8 shot, as he 

 said that I might meet some hard-killing birds, and the 

 extra eighth of an ounce of shot would be sufficient to 

 bag them clean at any distance inside seventy-five yards. 



