SHOOTING THE PRAIRIE GROUSE 411 



passing to the southward during a season of cold, had 

 ceased to be a source of wonderment He says : 



"The prairie fowl had now completely thrown aside 

 their summer habits. Instead of keeping apart in dis- 

 tinct families, scattered over a vast extent of country, 

 like our grouse at an earlier season, they now appeared 

 congregated in immense flocks in the immediate vi- 

 cinity of the farms. I had plenty of opportunity of 

 studying their habits, but to shoot a few brace, as 

 they were extremely wild, required frequently hours 

 of patient and wary exertion; whereas at an earlier 

 season a sportsman, if aided by a dog, might bag any 

 quantity from the pertinacity with which they will lie 

 close until forced to fly. 



"It appeared that at this time of the year all the birds 

 within an area of three or four miles square congre- 

 gated together by consent at sundown on a given spot 

 in the rank dried grass of the unburnt prairie to 

 sleep. Many a time have I seen them coming at sun- 

 set from every point of the compass with their re- 

 markable level and even flight over the swells of the 

 prairie toward the place of rendezvous, which a few 

 days' observation enabled me to determine upon within 

 a quarter of a mile, and twice I was on the prairie 

 early enough to hear and see them rise, and the sight 

 was such as might make an English sportsman's mouth 

 water. The number must have amounted to many 

 thousands, and the sound of their wings might be 

 heard a very great distance. After rising for about 

 half an hour they crowd the scattered trees on the edge 



