370 AMERICAN GAME BIRD SHOOTING 



This is what he has to say about ruffed grouse 

 shooting : 



From the time when the mind of man runneth not 

 to the contrary in matters of shooting for sport, the 

 ruffed grouse, by common consent, has been classed 

 with the most difficult of game birds which the sports- 

 man endeavors to bring to bag under the approved 

 conditions of sportsmanship, if indeed it be not the 

 most difficult of all. For it taxes the sportsman's 

 nerve, patience, skill, woodcraft and endurance as no 

 other bird can tax them; and all these requirements 

 are necessarily supplemented by a gun of good killing 

 powers, one selected with special reference to cover 

 shooting; and last, but not least, a dog of more than 

 ordinary intelligence and good intent and good train- 

 ing, if the sport is to have any successful results and 

 pleasing finish in its action. If any element of the 

 sportsman's ruffed grouse craft be missing success is 

 marred accordingly. 



The ruffed grouse, in every art and article, is a bird 

 to fill the sportsman's ideal. Its habitat is in nature's 

 most picturesque setting; the bird is beautiful in its 

 delicate tracings and markings, and rich and varied 

 in its colorings; racy of form and faultless in sym- 

 metry; wild, dashing, daring, alert, and infinitely re- 

 sourceful in its crafty devices when pursued; exclu- 

 sive in its habits, and, withal, a bird of rare excellence 

 for the table, its flesh being of a delicate texture and 

 pleasing flavor so palatable, indeed, that it is by many 

 epicures more highly prized than is the flesh of any 



