190 PRAIRIE AND FORSET. 



caused them to pack, the sportsman must indeed be a 

 bad shot who cannot tumble them on nearly each dis- 

 charge, for they are easy of approach, lying very close, 

 and rising and flying slowly, without making much of 

 that disconcerting disturbance so apparent in the 

 flushing of partridge and of ruffed grouse. Again, the 

 ground in which they are found is open and clear from 

 interruptions, affording an abundance of time for the 

 most precise and formal to take aim; but after the 

 autumnal equinoctial gales have whistled over the un- 

 protected landscape, and the sharp night frosts have 

 changed the verdant leaves to a vermilion or golden 

 hue, rapid and precise shooting is required, for not 

 only will they rise at long range, but take hard and 

 fair hitting to bring them down, and instead of finding 

 the quarry on the sun-warmed, open, grassy slopes, 

 the dense tall corn will be more frequently selected as 

 their chosen retreat. 



Of course, the farther you proceed West, the nearer 

 you reach the ultimate extremities of civilisation, the 

 greater will be your prospects of heavy bags, and more 

 particularly so late in the season, as the population 

 being sparse, and the intrusion of cattle, sheep, and 

 dogs less frequent, the birds still continue compara- 

 tively tamer than in the more densely settled quarters. 

 However, it is not convenient for all, nor even would 

 many choose to sacrifice every comfort for the sake of 

 slaughter, and turn a pleasure into a labour and a pur- 

 suit of discomfort ; for living in a squatter's hut is 

 scarcely, as an old friend used to say, "What it's 

 cracked up to be :" besides, what can you do with the 

 results, a very small portion of which will satisfy your 

 own demands ; for my part, give me from eight to ten 



