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North American Grouse. 



MAKING THEMSELVES AT HOME. 



of these graceful birds will come running over the snow, familiar in 

 the desolation, and contented and secure in their winter home, prov- 

 ing how apt for their position in life God's creatures are everywhere 

 made. Once, returning to our log hut after an absence of several 

 days on an exploring tour, we peered through the opening that was 

 left for the window, and saw a brood of these glossy birds pecking 

 about the floor and foraging on the remains of our feast. They 

 crept into the empty flour-barrel, and pried into the tin meat-cans, 

 and one old cock flitted upon the table and perched on the edge of 

 a tin pan. His weight upset the dish, which clattered upon the floor, 

 when the gay foragers, scared by the din, whirled out of the open 

 door like "a swarm of golden bees," taking refuge in the neighbor- 

 ing hemlocks. They were not disturbed by us, for such gentle 

 spirits bring good luck to the hunter's camp. Like the little gray 

 wood-mouse that comes out of the logs and gathers the evening 

 crumbs, they lend a certain domestic charm to the lonely hut that 

 makes the solitary woodsman feel he is not alone. 



The pinnated grouse, or prairie-fowl, is in numbers and use the 

 most conspicuous of the American grouse. Its range is over all the 

 open prairie-land of the North American continent, extending even 



