78 GALLINACEOUS BIRDS—GROUSE 



scattered birds. There were but few misses and it was 

 not long before we had shot them all, excepting a few 

 which got away while the guns were empty. 



The taciturn Indian sat in the wagon and marked 

 the birds, but the few that were left were widely scat- 

 tered and we proceeded to cast off the dog and search 

 for a new covey. An officer from the garrison with 

 an Irish setter joined us, and on one occasion when the 

 dogs pointed a covey the birds arose, as they often do, 

 but a few at a time, in rapid succession, and reloading 

 quickly we killed them all before retrieving a bird. 

 Although the distances were great, the dogs were used 

 to them and were fast and untiring, and we found one 

 covey after another and had excellent sport with them 

 all. A few ducks were shot as they flew from the ponds, 

 an occasional snipe went out with harsh squeak and 

 zig-zag flight from the wet grass about the ponds, and 

 found a place in the bag. Such was the shooting of 

 the sharp-tails a few years ago, and such it is to-day in 

 the Dakotas, Montana, and from Manitoba to Washing- 

 ton and Oregon. There are some restraints, however. 

 A gun license is usually required, costing as much as 

 $40 in Wyoming, and where the sport is best there is a 

 legal limit to the bag — ten birds in a day in Oregon, 

 twenty-five in Dakota. 



A limit of ten birds per day makes a short day's 

 shooting when the birds are abundant. It may be 

 necessary to save the game when the shooting is fine 

 and gunners are numerous, but, as I have observed 

 before, this limit may well be increased when the birds 

 are well cared for on the game preserve, their natural 

 enemies destroyed and food supplied them in the winter. 



