A BIT OF GROUSE HUNTER'S 

 LORE. 



THE game laws of New York allow 

 ruffed grouse shooting between the 

 first day of September and the first day 

 of January, and although the young birds 

 are powerful and quite knowing early in 

 the season, they are not much hunted un- 

 til the autumn leaves are falling and the 

 cool, invigorating air allows the hunter to 

 climb and tramp over windfalls and rocks 

 with comfort. During the months of 

 September and October the young grouse 

 have comparatively short tails and small 

 ruffs, so that they are readily distinguished 

 from the old birds, but by the latter end 

 of the season many of them are in perfect 

 feather except that they lack the sheen, 

 like that of polished mahogany, which can 

 be observed when the back of an old bird 

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