216 The Grouse Family 



from a nest this moment," said the puncher, with 

 a wink in my direction. 



" It's a wager," said the Briton. " I'd cheerfully 

 give a dollar to see the hen and a full set of eggs." 

 Then he carefully scanned the ground all about. 



The puncher stared at me and rolled his eyes 

 significantly downward, apparently indicating a 

 spot within a few yards of my boots. Thus 

 warned, I presently made out the form of a 

 crouching hen not more than fifteen feet away. 

 Only when the exact spot was pointed out, could 

 the Briton see her. Then he paid the dollar, and 

 said it was " marvellous ! " We drove the bird off 

 the nest, and he examined the eggs, but, much as 

 he desired them, he refused to take them because 

 incubation was too far advanced for his notion of 

 sportsmanship. This so pleased the puncher that 

 he hunted up some fresh eggs, and delivered them 

 the following day. 



As an object of the sportsman's pursuit, the sage- 

 grouse is greatly inferior to most of its relatives. 

 The young, the only ones worth shooting, are 

 great runners, and only take wing when com- 

 pelled to, and once in the air their size is against 

 them, although they fly fairly fast. Another ob- 

 jectionable feature is their ability to carry off shot, 

 which sometimes borders on the marvellous. A 

 light gun, deadly on other grouse, will hardly 

 serve for these big fellows, the use of it surely 



