88 AMERICAN GAME BIRD SHOOTING. 
by their broods, as these always keep under cover as 
much as possible, to avoid the prying eyes of their ene- 
mies. They are readily found, however, with the aid of 
a good dog, as they exhale a strong scent, lie well to a 
point, and do not scatter so easily as other members of 
the family. They, therefore, afford capital sport, and 
their flesh being white, tender, and palatable, they are 
entitled to the respect of the naturalist, the sportsman, 
and the epicure. 
One of the best day’s sport I ever had with them was 
in Eastern Idaho, where they are very abundant. I was 
in the company of three gentlemen, who were true lovers 
of the gun, for the excitement of camping out, the com- 
munion with nature, and the health-giving tramping 
over mountain and moor, was more pleasant to them 
than the mere killing of birds. Leaving town in a 
wagon drawn by two sturdy and high-spirited mus- 
tangs, we drove until we came to some stubble-fields, 
Alighting there, we tied the team to the fence, called 
out the dogs, and sent them into the fields, for my 
companions believed it would be no use beating up the 
ground outside, as they said that the birds always flew 
into wheat-fields, so that they could not be trailed by 
a dog, whereas the prairie-chicken travelled to such 
places on foot. I was the only one in the party who 
carried a breech-loader, the others preferring their 
reliable friends, the muzzle-loaders, on the ground that 
they could fire any kind of shot they pleased from them 
during the day, according as it was wanted, without 
being compelled to carry a heavy load of different kinds 
of cartridges. The man who supplied me with shells 
filled them with three and a half drachms of coarse pow- 
der, and one and one-fourth ounces of No. 8 shot, as he 
said that I might meet some hard-killing birds, and the 
extra eighth of an ounce of shot.would be sufficient to 
bag them clean at any distance inside seventy-five yards. 
