CANADIAN RUFFED GROUSE. 85 



shotgun or rifle — very frequently the latter is used — 

 knocks the bird off the limb. Should there be other 

 Grouse perched in the near vicinity the report of the 

 weapon does not frighten them, and the firing is contin- 

 ued until a number of birds are tossing upon the ground, 

 and the remainder, at length realizing that so much noise 

 means serious danger, betake themselves to more secure 

 retreats. When the rifle is employed for this kind of 

 shooting, it is de rigueur that the head alone should be 

 cut off, and any marring of the body by the bullet is 

 to be condemned, and the marksman adjudged to be 

 more lacking in skill than if he had missed the bird alto- 

 gether. This shooting away the head by a single ball 

 is not such a difficult feat as it may seem; for, in the first 

 place, the distance between man and bird is usually quite 

 short, possibly averaging not over ten yards, and the 

 bird does all it can to insure a successful shot by stand- 

 ing bolt upright, and, with its neck stretched to the 

 fullest length, remains as if carved in stone. The habits 

 of the Canadian Grouse are the same as its relative of 

 the Eastern part of the United States, and the description 

 of one will answer for both. On account of the wooded 

 character of the country it inhabits, it is not as commonly 

 shot over a dog '* at point " as is the Ruffed Grouse, 

 but in any favorable locality it w^ould lie as well, flush 

 and present as favorable a mark for the sportsman, and 

 show as much dexterity in evading his shot, by placing 

 trees between itself and the gun, as does its relative of 

 more southern climes. 



Like all gallinaceous birds this Grouse rises with a 

 resounding whir-r of the wings, but, as is the case with 

 all the species, it can also take wing and steal away with- 

 out making the slightest sound whatever. It seems to 

 be almost an act of volition on the part of the bird 



