250 USE OF THE DOG IN SnOOTING. 



with ease. Later they gather in flocks, and become wild, rising ont 

 of gun shot and fl}'ing away for a long distance; but if followed 

 and again started they scatter, and, lying close, may be flushed singly 

 and bagged. In the fall they frequent the corn fields and pick up 

 the scattered corn, but are difficult to shoot in such places, from the 

 joisemadein passing through tlie rustling leaves which startles 

 them before the hunter can get within shot. Sport under such 

 circumstances is weary and unprofitiible work. 



Tlie Dnsky Grouse, is the finest of the whole family, exceeding 

 all others in size, and being equal to any in delicacy of flesh. The 

 male has been found to weigh 3^ lbs., while 3 lbs. is a common 

 weight. In color it is generally greyish brown, mottled with red- 

 dish brown and black; the throat is white, crossed with black ; the 

 breast and belly are lead color ; the tail feathers are black with the 

 terminal cross band of grey usual in the grouse family. 



The young birds when half grown in August are easily killed, and 

 are much sought for on account of the tenderness and delicacy of 

 their flesh. The mature birds have the same habit which the re« 

 lated species of the east possess of taking refuge in the nearest tree, 

 and remaining crouched against the trunk on a limb. They lie 

 very close to dogs, and are easily killed when found away from 

 the thick pine forest in which they usually harbor. 



Ths Virginia Partridge or Qutil, is known by its right name in 

 Pennsylvania and further South, although the residents there make 

 up for this accuracy by wrongly calling the grouse a pheasant. As 

 a quail, it is wrongly known in Kew England and the Northern 

 States. No more familiar srvand is heard in the spring, when the 

 bird is mating or brooding, than the cheery "bob-white" which at 

 morning, noon, and night, is sung by the male and answered by the 

 female. The nest is made on the ground, of grass, and is sheltered 

 by some tall tuft. The young birds run as soon as hatched, and the 

 brood roost together at night upon the ground, in a circle with 

 their heads outwards. If disturbed they take flight, each in a 

 direct line, and thus spread in separate courses. The note of alarm 

 is a low twittering sound, not unlike thai made by young chickens ; 

 the note of recall, after a scattering, is loud and frequent, with a 



