162 AMERICAN GAME BIRD SHOOTING 



had prompted him to come to the edge and look down 

 to discover the cause of the noise. Perceiving that my 

 back was toward him he knew that I could not see him 

 and so remained. Perhaps he had not seen enough of 

 me to satisfy him, and when I turned around he knew 

 I could not reach him. He had probably never been 

 shot at and knew nothing of the power of the gun which 

 I held in my hand, or of man's ability to harm at a 

 distance." 



In a country where it is much pursued by man or 

 dog, the ruffed grouse, if unexpectedly approached 

 closely, is likely to walk or run away rather than to fly. 

 A good grouse dog follows the trail of the bird slowly 

 and not much faster than the bird itself can run. Those 

 of us who have possessed good grouse dogs, which are 

 always scarce enough, have often seen them leave the 

 trail, make a wide circle and come up on the other side 

 of the bird to head it off and stop it. Unless some- 

 thing like this is done, the bird may readily enough 

 be followed to the edge of the cover, where it will 

 presumably take wing and disappear. If a dog is 

 alone especially if it be a dog of red or yellow color, 

 suggesting a fox the bird is likely merely to hop up 

 on a limb well out of reach and remain there looking 

 down at the enemy; but if a man follows the dog, the 

 bird, if he gets into a tree, is likely to stand close to 

 the tree trunk and remain absolutely motionless. 



Ruffed grouse are subject to more or less unex- 

 plained periods of scarcity. During one season the 

 woods will contain their usual number of the birds, and 



