318 AMERICAN GAME BIRD SHOOTING. 



raise himself above the standing grain, and a spaniel to 

 rout them from cover. The gun may kick a man off his 

 perch occasionally, but that is a mere trifle comjiared to 

 the sport enjoyed. Some men use step ladders when 

 they have to shoot in thickets. These are placed at con- 

 venient points, and when the fowlers mount them, the 

 dogs are sent in to flush the birds. If the animals are 

 successful, Mr. Philohela Minor is greeted with many a 

 salute as he emerges from cover, and if he is sent to grass, 

 the " grassers " congratulate themselves in no uncertam 

 phrases. This plan of shooting cannot, of course, be 

 generally adopted, but it will do for special occasions. 



The female is larger than the male, and weighs an 

 ounce or two more. This makes her a special target 

 for fowlers, but the man who would kill her in the spring 

 or summer must be cruel or thoughtless, for her death 

 means the loss of four or more young birds, and the rapid 

 decimation of her family. She is the tirst to arrive from 

 the South in the spring, being followed a week or fort- 

 night later by the male. Her time of arrival varies from 

 February to March, as it depends entirely on the con- 

 dition of the weather; and her time of departure for the 

 South, from November to December. The first flights 

 that reach the Middle and Western States in the autumn 

 are called "flight bn'ds." These are distinguished from 

 the permanent summer guests by the brighter color of 

 the plumage on the breast, and their active habits, as 

 they act like strangers in a place. When the birds are 

 moulting, they keep under cover as much as possible, and 

 seldom wander far from their places of concealment. If 

 these are on the hillsides, the birds live mainly on the lit- 

 tle white worms which are found on the under side of 

 fallen leaves, and such other food as may be convenient. 

 They turn over the leaves in a large extent of country in 

 twenty-four hours, as they work rapidly each morning 

 and evening, in order to be under cover when the sun ap- 



