122 A Day with the Grouse. 



in many places was thickly carpeted with 

 wintergreens and princess pine. In the 

 debris of the very first crumbling log we 

 found a group of four wallow holes and a 

 loose grouse-feather that looked as though 

 it had been recently shaken out. Neither 

 Don nor Belle made any signs of game 

 just there, but they ranged eagerly back 

 and forth to the loose heaps of brush, 

 through clumps of sapling pines and along 

 the stump fence, until the rapid wagging 

 of Don's tail as he hesitated for a moment 

 in the cart-path showed that a grouse had 

 been along there that morning. For 

 several minutes Don was busy in trying 

 to determine the direction of the trail, but 

 gradually becoming convinced he started 

 off cautiously through the scrubby oak 

 bushes with elevated nose and swinging 

 tail. We could see his nostrils dilate and 

 hear him snuffing, as with half-closed eyes 

 his every energy seemed concentrated in 

 the delicate effort of catching the floating 

 scent. How lightly he stepped as he led 

 us off toward a fallen tree-top ! And then 

 he began to grow stiff-legged, and stopped. 



