RUFFED-GROUSE SHOOTING. 119 



setter moves a step forward the grouse springs 

 up and goes away like a bullet , for the thickest 

 part of the cover. I have seen stories in print of 

 ruffed grouse taking to water, of its being caught 

 and let go, and then caught again. I do not be- 

 lieve one word of such things. The man who 

 invented them can know but little of the nature 

 and habits of this very wild bird. In the deep 

 snows of winter the ruffed grouse roost under the 

 snow. They dart at it with great speed, and 

 make a sort of burrow beneath the surface. At 

 other times they roost on the ground. When out 

 coon-hunting at night, I have often put them up 

 from their roosts on the ground. It has been 

 maintained that they sometimes roost in trees ; 

 and as they certainly take to trees readily enough 

 when flushed by a barking dog, and feed on the 

 buds of trees, it seems reasonable to believe that 

 they may sometimes roost in them. On the other 

 hand, many men of experience declare that they 

 never roost in trees. I have often seen them in 

 trees very early in the morning, but it was out at 

 the ends of the branches, feeding on the young 

 buds. t I will not positively affirm that the ruffed 

 grouse never roosts in trees, but I think it never 

 does so when it caii help it. In very severe weather, 



