62 SHOOTING WILD FOWL. 



without one attempting to fly away, so long as he begins at the bot- 

 tom bird and selects them in that order on the way up. If he shoots 

 one of the upper birds, however, its fall will be the signal for all the 

 rest to fly and away they go. The fool-hen lives in trees in the 

 winter, the same as the rutfed-grouse. When startled they stand 

 erect on the limb as motionless as a knot. While standing that way 

 one may shoot at them as many times as he likes, but the bird will 

 never move unless it iri hit. The pir.nated-grouse or prairie-hen 

 formerly were alnndnnt in all parts of Ame- ica, congregating prin- 

 cipally in dry open districts, where patches oi brushwood and trees 

 abound. They are still plentiful on our north- western prairies, in 

 season, and are generally hunted for at early sunrise. 



Quail Shooting, 



Of all migrating birds the quail is most hiphly esteemed for the 

 table. It is nearly allied to the partridge, Dui having a more slender 

 bill, a shorter tail, longer wings, no spur, and no red space above the 

 eyOc Quails excel partridges in their power of flight. They never 

 ]jerch on trees, invariably lighting upon the ground They are of a 

 brown color streaked with difl'erent shadc3, and the wings are 

 mottled with light-brown, the throat white, with dark-brown bands 

 in the male. The bob- white and ruffed-grouse arc often eroneously 

 called quail. 



The Loon, 



We will hardly dare say "loon shooting, " for it is very seldom 

 that one is shot. He is the hardest of all birds to hit. His 

 quickness is amazing. He will dodge a rifle ball by diving after he 

 sees the flash, and this at a distance not irrr^-y^p^- than eight rods. A 

 friend of the writer once succeeded in hitting one with a bullet at 

 long range by creeping through thick clover toward a small and se- 

 lect company of these wild birds that were having a little picnic of 

 their own in the water at sunrise. Unless they can be so taken 

 they must be shot, if at all, by having the gun already aimed at the 

 probable spot w^here the loon will rise, and firing at the very in- 

 stant the water breaks, even before the bird's head really appears. 



The following is an account of the loon by one of the best observ-r 

 ers of birds in America: 



