OF A RANCHMAN i 1 3 



I am far from decrying the shot-gun. It 

 is always pleasant as a change from the rifle, 

 and in the Eastern States it is almost the 

 only fire-arm which we now have a chance 

 to use. But out in the cattle country it is 

 the rifle that is always carried by the ranch- 

 man who cares for sport. Large game is 

 still that which is sought after, and most 

 of the birds killed are either simply slaugh- 

 tered for the pot, or else shot for the sake of 

 variety, while really after deer or antelope ; 

 though every now and then I have taken a 

 day with the shot-gun after nothing else 

 but prairie fowl. 



The sharp-tailed prairie fowl is much the 

 most plentiful of the feathered game to be 

 found on the northern cattle plains, where 

 it replaces the common prairie chicken so 

 abundant on the prairies to the east and 

 southeast of the range of our birds. In 

 habits it is much like the latter, being one 

 of the grouse which keep to the open, tree- 

 less tracts, though it is far less averse to 

 timber than is its nearest relative, and often 



