30 GUN, ROD, AND SADDLE. 



for although they may wander from tlieir breeding 

 place, from constant attention, I am convinced that 

 the change of quarters is caused from scarcity of 

 food. On the edges of the dry prairies in south- 

 ern Illinois, in early autumn, this bird abounds ; in 

 winter they disappear into the neighboring thickets 

 and brush, for why ? the prairies are constantly 

 burned at the end of the season, and consequently 

 starvation or change of residence is their alterna- 

 tives. In one section of the country that I resided 

 in, a great portion of the prairie land was too wet to 

 burn, and many a heavy bag I obtained late in the 

 season, even when the roots of the grass were sub- 

 merged in ice. My dogs, which I invariably br<jjie 

 upon them, seldom made mistakes, and never do I 

 remember a covey departing (except the pointer or 

 setter had run into them coming down wind) with- 

 out getting at least a barrel into them. I believe 

 these birds are equally adapted for naturalization 

 into either England, Scotland, or Ireland, and with 

 other varieties of game they appear to agree well, 

 for I have on several occasions killed this partridge 

 with one barrel, and the ruffed grouse with the other 

 over the same point. 



As a table delicacy I know no greater ; for weeks 



