A Bit of Grouse Hunter's Lore. 193 



server ; and the grouse in such a position 

 will allow one to approach quite near 

 before he leaves his comfortable room 

 beneath the winds. 



The snow is sometimes too hard to serve 

 .for house purposes, and then the birds 

 may not alight upon the ground for many 

 days at a time, but fly from the hiding tops 

 of evergreens to the trees in which they 

 bud at morning and at evening. On the 

 first warm day though, when the sun has 

 softened the snow, the boy who is follow- 

 ing a rabbit in the warm corner of the 

 thicket will suddenly come upon the neat- 

 est, the trimmest and the most inspiring 

 bird track that is ever imprinted in any 

 woods on the pure white surface of this 

 good earth of ours. Three evenly spread 

 toemarks in front and one short straight 

 mark behind. One footmark just as far 

 in advance of the previous one as that is 

 ahead of the one before it, and all in defi- 

 nite order. Here the track leads around 

 a rock ; there it goes along the whole 

 length of that half-sunken log and then 

 straight out through the sheep path among 



