THE GROUSE ON SNOW-SHOES 



V 



January izth 



N a previous chapter I have touched 

 upon the sprightly record of the 

 birds and mice upon the fresh-fallen 

 snow. I omitted to mention one 

 very interesting snow- track which 

 we may frequently meet with, lead- 

 ing us over the tops of snow-drifts 

 and circling among the alders and 

 sedges of the swamps, where the snow is 

 suggestively littered with bud-scales and 

 dirt. It is the track of a large bird ; and 

 from what we know of the habits of our 

 winter game, is plainly that of the ruffed 

 grouse, or " partridge," as he is commonly called. 



But how is this? This is not the clean, trim imprint 

 which the bird makes in the mud or wet sand of sum- 

 mer. Here is something worth looking into, surely. 

 The snow gives us the tracks of the tiniest mice with 

 perfect modelling, tail mark and all ; yet while the foot 

 of the grouse is slender and dainty, here we find a 

 blurred and jagged track, with each toe apparently a 

 third of an inch in width. It is worth your while, my 

 city youth, to stop at the market or butcher's shop on 



