50 FEATHERED GAME 



nearer to the farms and orchards, and old apple 

 trees in the woods or a deserted orchard hid- 

 den away from travelled roads and near the 

 forests are favorite spots and much frequented 

 by them, as are likewise in their proper season 

 the gullies where the ripe, red " thorn plums " 

 are to be had for the picking. In berry and 

 fruit time their food is almost entirely of this 

 sort. In fact, from his readiness to eat almost 

 any of Mother Nature's cookery the Ruffed 

 Grouse is in prime condition the year around. 



There is scarcely a game bird so satisfactory 

 from all points of view as is our hero : a brave, 

 strong-flying bird, a brainy and worthy an- 

 tagonist from the sportsman's standpoint, and 

 in the estimation of the epicure a great deli- 

 cacy. 



Although numerous attempts have been made 

 to domesticate the Ruffed Grouse nearly all 

 such have failed. The wild instincts of the free 

 forest rover have usually triumphed over the 

 easy but dull round of barnyard life even in 

 chicks raised and cared for by the domestic 

 hen, as they have almost invariably departed 

 for the woods as soon as they were able to shift 

 for themselves, or if unable to escape have 



