SHOOTING THE WOODS GROUSE 371 



other game bird. With those who may vaunt the ex- 

 cellence of the woodcock, the snipe, the prairie chicken, 

 the duck, the turkey, etc., it also holds a high place iir 

 their esteem; and the exceptional man, whose fancy 

 for one particular kind of bird prejudices him against 

 all others, will not speak unkindly of it. And yet, 

 delicious as it is when properly prepared for the table, 

 it can easily be spoiled by ill cooking, and of bad cooks 

 there is no end. The art of cooking it properly is as 

 rare as is the skill of killing it properly. If it be cooked 

 too much, or if it be cooked improperly, it loses much 

 of its rich delicacy of flavor and texture, and becomes 

 dry and unpalatable; and in that unfortunate condi- 

 tion it probably was when that eminent authority, Wil- 

 son, partook of it, and thereafter, in his "American 

 Ornithology/' wrote of it: "At these inclement sea- 

 sons, however, they are generally lean and dry, and, 

 indeed, at all times their flesh is far inferior to that 

 of the quail or of the pinnated grouse." Yet, as tastes 

 are not all alike, the superlative will probably be placed 

 according to the individual fancy in matters of food, 

 as in all other matters, and it is well that it is so. If 

 all fancied alike, all would be monotony. Nevertheless, 

 a man who cannot have a culinary spell cast over him 

 by a skilfully cooked ruffed grouse, it having been kept 

 a proper length of time after killing not too long 

 has no music in his soul, and may not even be fit for 

 treason and spoils. 



The ruffed grouse chooses rough and timbered sec- 

 tions, for it is strictly a bird of the woods and thick- 



