120 AMERICAN GAME BIRD SHOOTING 



dows and amid the rocks above timber line. The female 

 all through the summer, leads her brood of little 

 ones about where insects, berries and seeds are most 

 accessible. Like many other grouse, if her young are 

 closely approached she feigns to be hurt, and runs off 

 with dragging wings and seemingly feeble footsteps 

 to lure the enemy to pursue her; but, after she has 

 been followed for a little distance, takes wing and 

 flies off up the mountain, to return on foot when the 

 danger is past. By the middle of July the young are 

 usually somewhat larger than quails, and at this time, 

 instead of immediately hiding when approached, they 

 take wing for a short flight, and, immediately on reach- 

 ing the ground, hide, lying as close as any birds that 

 I have ever seen. At such times, if the ground be 

 fairly open, it is not difficult to see them as they crouch 

 close to the earth, but as soon as they recognize that 

 your eye has caught them, they spring into the air for 

 another flight. I recall one morning when, traveling 

 along a little valley, with a companion, we started 

 several broods of well-grown young, of which we 

 killed seventeen by shooting their heads off with our 

 rifles. The birds were needed for food for the camp. 

 As the young birds grow larger and more hardy, 

 the mother leads them higher up the mountain, and 

 by the end of August or first of September they are 

 feeding among the green timber, at which time their 

 principal food in some localities is a species of low- 

 growing red huckleberry. By September or October 

 the birds are nearly as large as the parent, and long be- 



