24 



THE CABINET OP NATURAL HISTORY, 



October,)— the country over which you roam is either 

 barren mountains or endless plains, — no shelter from the 

 sun, nor supplies of water to slake the thirst, — and a con- 

 tinued growth of scrub bushes to pass through, injurious to 

 the dogs, and exceedingly difficult for the Sportsmen to 

 overcome. Besides, you often wander a day or more with- 

 out seeing a bird; and, after exhausting all this time, your 

 strength, and patience, you are obliged to return many 

 miles, on foot, to some habitation for the night. It re- 

 quires, also, that you should hunt with great caution and 

 quietness; the human voice should never be heard, espe- 

 cially if your dogshave struck a trail, and are in the 

 vicinity of the game. You must then be on the alert, — 

 and when your dogs draw to a steady point, your chief 

 object must be to kill the first bird that rises — for a pack 

 of Grouse may be at hand, and by silence, and killing the 

 first bird, you stand a fair chance of getting the remainder. 



The bird which usually rises first, is the leader of the 

 whole, and is the parent cock bird, — and if he is not 

 killed before he challenges or alarms the others, you may 

 lose several fine chances, because the remainder, on hear- 

 ing the cry of alarm from their leader, will immediately 

 take vving, and escape. But if, on the contrary, the alarm is 

 prevented, the others will remain in their seclusion, until 

 you can at leisure drive them up one by one, and get the 

 whole. The report of your gun will not alarm them, — 

 but a single word spoken, will spoil your sport. It is to 

 be understood, however, that your dogs must be of the 

 first order — perfectly staunch — and which will not break 

 away on your fire; at this time the birds may be scattered 

 about, either wallowing in the earth, or in search of food, 

 and forms one of the most propitious periods for the 

 Sportsman. 



Should you be successful in the early part of the day, 

 or on your outward range, by bagging several birds, it 

 will be advisable to disencumber yourself from your 

 burthen — provided you calculate to return nearly the same 

 route. In doing this, you must first select a cool spot, 

 under the shadow of some rocks, or the most dense shrub- 

 bery you can find, and after scraping away the surface of 

 the earth, there deposit your game. You must cover it 

 with moss, if you can get it, or green leaves, and on this, 

 or around it, place two or three pieces of tow, with burnt 

 powder on it, which you can procure by wiping your gun. 

 The object of this is to preserve the game from vermin, 

 particularly foxes, which it will effectually do. One im- 

 portant point to observe, is, that you should tie the neck 

 of each bird so completely tight as to admit no air; and 

 plug the vent with charcoal, prepared for the purpose by 

 being cut into a form somewhat like a sugar-loaf, only ta- 

 pering to a sharp point. This will preserve the birds a 



much longer time than if omitted; and no Sportsman' 

 should think these preparations too troublesome, on an 

 expedition of that kind. The difficulty of killing the 

 birds, and the labour and expense attending these excur- 

 sions, make it desirable that all means should be resorted 

 to, to bringyourgame home in a good state of preservation. 



The Pinnated Grouse describes a straight, but very 

 long line of flight. You must, therefore, mark their 

 course, as correct as you can, and after you have adjusted 

 matters, follow immediately in their wake. You thereby 

 not only stand a fair chance of coming on the same birds 

 again, but of finding others in your route. 



In respect to the size of shot to be employed, many 

 Grouse hunters use larger sizes than are necessary, sayB,. 

 1, 2, 3. But in this, as in other cases, I have a great 

 aversion to large shot. Grouse are generally hunted be- 

 fore they are matured, or fully fledged, and much 

 smaller shot is capable of destroying them, than either of 

 the above sizes. I would recommend you never to use 

 larger than No. 3, but of choice No. 4 or 5. 



If your gun is of ll-16ths calibre, and proportionably 

 heavy, she will be found suitable for the purpose; butyou y 

 of course, must use more powder and shot at Grouse than 

 you would at smaller game. 



I have often wondered why Sportsmen should so sel- 

 dom hunt the Ruffed Grouse. In size, it nearly equals 

 the Pinnated Grouse, and, in the fall, I think is quite as- 

 good eating. And what appears more strange, is, that 

 gentlemen will incur great expense, — travel fifty or a 

 hundred miles, with a train of dogs, — spend one or two 

 weeks in pursuit, and generally return with no more than 

 four or five brace of the latter. Whereas half the time and 

 expense will answer, with two good dogs, to insure thrice 

 the success with the former, from grounds more adjacent. 



The Spotted Grouse is less known than either of the 

 foregoing species, as they are not to be found in any of the 

 middle, southern, or western states; they inhabit the north 

 part of Maine, the Canadas, and the regions of the Rocky 

 Mountains. To the north they are called the Spruce 

 Partridge and Canada Grouse; but larger and more valua- 

 ble game exists in such abundance there, that the Spotted 

 Grouse is thought unworthy of the hunter's notice. The 

 portrait and history of this bird will be given in No. 4, 

 Vol. III. page 85, of this work. 



The other three species are found only in the far west, 

 particularly the Cock of the Plains, which inhabits that 

 country beyond the Rocky Mountains, particularly the 

 low lands along the Columbia river, and in size is as large 

 as the female Turkey. These of course cannot be objects 

 of pursuit, by the Sportsmen of this or the next genera- 

 tion. !• 



