49 



will have some of the finest kind of shooting, as when flushed on a 

 hillside they nearly always fly with a curve downhill at a tremendous 

 pace, giving the hardest kind of shots. 



They are to be found about everywhere in the interior, but two 

 of the handiest places are Savonas and Spences' Bridge, on the main 

 line of the C.P.R. 



RUFFED GROUSE (COMMONLY CALLED WILLOW-GROUSE). 



There are two varieties of this species and they are found more 

 or less all over the Province. They do not live in the open as the 

 European grouse, but in the thickets and bushy gulches at the foot of 

 the mountains, and especially in the crab-apple bottom lands of the 

 valleys. Along the Lower Fraser A'alley they are especially numerous. 



During the month of September the young birds are apt to fly 

 into a tree and afford nothing but a pot-shot, but after the leaves 

 are ofif the trees they usually fly fast, dodging here and there among 

 the trees and affording the most sporting-shots ; in fact, even with 

 birds plentiful, the best of shots seldom make a big bag. 



The ruffed grouse is generally considered the choicest table-bird 

 of all the grouse family. 



COLUMBIA SHARP-TAILED GROUSE (COMMONLY CALLED PRAIRIE- 

 CHICKEN). 



These birds are only found to the east of the Coast Range. They 

 are fairly numerous in certain places, and in October and November, 

 when they begin to get wild and fly fast, afford splendid sport. There 

 is generally some good shooting to be got at various places along the 

 Cariboo Road and some parts of the Okanagan District, as well as 

 in Kamloops, Similkameen. and Cranbrook Districts. 



FRANKLIN'S GROUSE (COMMONLY CALLED FOOL-HEN). 



This beautiful grouse is only found in tl^e interior and is most 

 plentiful in Kootenay. It is not a sporting-bird, and has got its name 

 from the foolish way it will sit in a low tree, or even on the ground, 

 and allow stones or sticks or even several shots to be fired at it before 

 it is killed or troubles to move. It is, however, a most excellent table- 

 bird and afl:ords a welcome addition to a hungry hunter. 



PTARMIGAN. 



These birds are not found in any qreat numl)ers in the 

 southern part of the Province, though a few may always be seen 

 on the tops of very high mountains. In the neighbourhood of 

 Atlin they arrive in numbers about the end of September, when 



