A CURIOUS OLD GANDER 129 



returned to the grove, feeling much stronger 

 for the repast and happier for such a pleasant 

 termination to this peculiar acquaintance. I 

 secured ten on the same ground I got the five 

 in the morning within a couple of hours. 



These prairie chickens are larger than the 

 birch partridges ; but the meat, which is very 

 delicious, is as dark as the spruce partridge. 

 The darkness of the flesh gave me a great 

 sell before I knew this characteristic of it. 

 Just before freezing weather I shot several 

 of them, which were frozen for winter. Some 

 weeks later I plucked a pair for dinner, but 

 noticing this dark colour, concluded they were 

 spoiled, and threw them away. My neigh- 

 bours, when they heard of the sell, had a 

 hearty laugh at my expense. On my way 

 homeward, I swerved towards the lower end 

 of Eed Deer Lake, expecting to find the 

 geese back from the feeding-grounds. I was 

 desirous of testing their tolling qualities, 

 especially the wavies, as they had never 

 been in sight of Beady. There were some 

 hundreds sleeping, washing, and swimming 

 about, so, with the dog at my heels, I crept 

 as near to those in the water as I could 



K 



