92 GALLINACEOUS BIRDS— GROUSE 



bird. He does not lie so well to the dog as the com- 

 mon partridge, Bob-white, or as the grouse of the open 

 country. It is unusual to make a large bag of ruffed- 

 grouse ; a half dozen birds in a day is a very good bag, 

 and will represent many more shots than the same 

 number of partridges or prairie-grouse, since the birds 

 fly very rapidly and the shots are usually in heavy 

 cover. 



The birds lie better to the dogs when there are many 

 fallen logs and much underbrush to impede their run- 

 ning, and in close thickets, especially thickets with 

 grass in them. I have usually found them lying close 

 in swampy places where the ground was soft and over- 

 grown with tufts of grass and covered with fallen logs. 

 When the birds are discovered in such places the sport 

 is indeed magnificent. But when the birds are few in 

 number and are found on vast mountain sides where 

 there is no such cover, and the ground is quite open 

 beneath the trees, they will often run from the dogs in 

 a most exasperating way and fl}^ from one mountain 

 side to another; much time is consumed in following 

 them, to say nothing of the arduous work, and the 

 dogs are often useless. 



I have more often shot ruffed-grouse when in pur- 

 suit of other game. Following the dogs to the woods 

 when partridge shooting, I have found them standing 

 ruffed-grouse, and as soon as the larger birds were 

 discovered, I have given them my immediate attention 

 and followed them so long as there was any chance for 

 success. When I have gone out especially to shoot 

 these birds I have usually not found them in sufficient 

 numbers to make the shooting as lively as I like to see 



