204 PRAIKIE AND FOREST. 



many portions of the United States and Canada they 

 are known by the misnomers of partridge and pheasant. 

 Frequently when trout fishing in the wilds of the 

 State of Maine I have come suddenly upon them, 

 when they would rise into the nearest tree, and 

 remain with unconcern watching me ; from evident 

 curiosity they would stretch their necks and get into 

 all kinds of grotesque attitudes ; and so little would 

 they then regard the report of a gun that I have 

 known pot-hunters kill quite a number of the same 

 family by always shooting the lowest birds first. But 

 when the ruffed grouse becomes familiar with man he 

 is perfectly cognisant of the danger of being in his 

 proximity. Although before dogs they lie close, their 

 colour harmonises so well with that of the ground, that 

 it is next to impossible to see them before they are on 

 the wing. 



In the undergrowth which springs up in that portion 

 of the country where the timber has been destroyed by 

 fire, I ever found them very abundant, it being almost 

 impossible to wander half a mile through such open- 

 ings without flushing a covey. As these generally 

 occur in the lumber regions, where the winters are 

 particularly long and rigorous, far exceeding in seve- 

 rity those of Scotland, the hardiness of this bird 

 cannot be doubted. In the Alleghanies and all the 

 southern ranges of hills of the United States it is 

 also abundant, where, if the winters are less severe, 

 the heat in summer is sometimes excessive, proving 

 that the ruffed grouse is capable of enduring great 

 varieties of climate. 



The palate of the most fastidious epicure cannot fail 

 to be gratified with the appearance of this game on the 



