200 PRAIRIE AND FOREST. 



same land, not one solitary bird was to be found. Now, 

 this prairie had not been burned, although others in the 

 vicinity had undergone the operation. Early in the season, 

 before the young have attained maturity, and ere the cold 

 and boisterous winds of autumn have caused them to pack, 

 the sportsman must indeed be a bad shot who can not tum- 

 ble them on nearly each discharge, for they are easy of ap- 

 proach, lying very close, and rising and flying slowly, with- 

 out making much of that disconcerting disturbance so ap- 

 parent in the flushing of partridge and of ruffed grouse. 

 Again, the ground in which they are found is open and 

 clear from interruptions, affording an abundance of time 

 for the most precise and formal to take aim ; but after the 

 autumnal equinoctial gales have whistled over the unpro- 

 tected landscape, and the sharp night-frosts have changed 

 the verdant leaves to a vermilion or golden hue, rapid and 

 precise shooting is required, for not only will they rise at 

 long range, but take hard and fair hitting to bring them 

 down; and instead of finding the quarry on the sun- 

 warmed, open, grassy slopes, the dense tall corn will be 

 more frequently selected as their chosen retreat. 



Of course, the farther you proceed West, the nearer you 

 reach the ultimate extremities of civilization, the greater 

 will be your prospects of heavy bags, and 1 more particular- 

 ly so late in the season, as the population being sparse, and 

 the intrusion of cattle, sheep, and dogs less frequent, the 

 birds still continue comparatively tamer than in the more 

 densely settled quarters. However, it is not convenient for 

 all, nor even would many choose to sacrifice every comfort 

 for the sake of slaughter, and turn a pleasure into a labor 

 and a pursuit of discomfort ; for living in a squatter's hut 

 is scarcely, as an old friend used to say, " what it's cracked 

 up to be ;" besides, what can you do with the results, a very 

 small portion of which will satisfy your own demands. For 



