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UPLAND SHOOTING. 55 



poise. But the eagerness of the sportsmen is so great, that a 

 large proportion of those they kill are but a few months old, 

 and have not attained their complete growth. Notwithstanding 

 the protection of the law, it is very common to disregard it. 

 The retired nature of the situation favors this. It is well under- 

 stood that an arrangement can be made which will blind and 

 silence informers, and the gun is fired with impunity for weeks 

 before the time prescribed in the act. To prevent this unfair 

 and unlawful practice, an association was formed a few years 

 ago, under the title of the ' Brush Club,'' with the express and 

 avowed intention of enforcing the game law. Little benefit, 

 however, has resulted from its laudable exertions ; and, under a 

 conviction that it was impossible to keep poachers away, the so- 

 ciety declined. 



" ' At present the statute may be considered as operating very 

 little towards their preservation. Grouse, especially full-grown 

 ones, are becoming less frequent. Their numbers are gradually 

 diminishing ; and, assailed as they are on all sides, almost with- 

 out cessation, their scarcity may be viewed as foreboding their 

 eventual extermination. 



" ' Price. — Twenty years ago, a brace of Grouse could be bought 

 for a dollar. They cost now from three to five dollars. A 

 handsome pair seldom sells in the New York market now-a-days 

 for less than thirty shillings — three dollars and seventy-five 

 cents — nor for more than forty, five dollars. 



" ' These prices indicate, indeed, the depreciation of money and 

 the luxury of eating. They prove at the same time that Grouse 

 are become rare ; and this fact is admitted by every man who 

 seeks them, whether for pleasure or profit. 



" ' Amours. — The season for pairing is in March, and the breed- 

 ing time is continued through April and May. Then the male 

 Grouse distinguishes himself by a peculiar sound. When he 

 utters it, the parts about the throat are sensibly inflated and 

 swelled. It may be heard on a still morning for three or more 

 miles ; some say they have perceived it as far as five or six. 

 This noise is a sort of ventriloquism. It does not strike the ear 



