118 GUN, ROD, AND SADDLE. 



THE PINNATED GROUSE. 



(TETRAQ CUPID o.) 



THE first pheasant I killed in China I thought the 

 noblest game-bird that ever I had pulled a trigger 

 upon, and truly he was a beauty ; the plumage was 

 in the most perfect state the neck of the greenest 

 emerald, the ring of the purest white, the tail the 

 longest, and the different shades and tints of wings 

 and body the very brightest I had ever seen in one 

 of his species; moreover, he weighed nearly one-half 

 more than any of the same family I had killed at 

 home, and to add additional appreciation, the shot 

 that brought him to the ground was a difficult one 

 and at long range. For years the pheasant of the 

 southern portion of China reigned paramount in my 

 opinion ; but a change has come over my ideas, and 

 now superlative before all others, I place two varie- 

 ties of American game-birds. What days of pleasure 

 have I had in the pursuit of pinnated grouse ; what 

 splendid bags have I made, and on such ground 



