THE CANADA GROUSE. 111 
that day. The red man accompanied the Nimrod of the 
expedition, whose idea was to attack nothing of less im- 
portance than a bear, and as the animal was abundant 
enough in the country, we surmised that he would not 
come home without one, unless bruin took him home. 
When we left camp we took our bearings in the most 
careful manner, for fear of getting lost, for a trackless 
forest looks so much alike that even the most experienced 
backwoodsman would not recognize one part from an- 
other, except by some special marks which he impresses 
on his mind, and from which he shapes his course. 
I learned the use of the terrier soon after starting, for 
we had hardly entered the depths of the forest before he 
dashed away, and a minute later we heard his sharp and 
vehement barking. ‘‘ Grouse,” exclaimed my compan- 
10n, as he ran ahead, and I after him. We had little dif- 
ficulty in finding the dog, as he kept up a steady series 
of yelps, which expressed as plainly as yelps could: 
‘Here they are; I’ve got them.” When we espied him 
he was wildly waltzing around a tree, looking upwards, 
and giving tongue in the most-excited manner. We 
peered among the branches for a minute or more, but 
beheld nothing except what seemed to be knots on the 
branches. Knowing that the birds were in the tree, 
nevertheless, I fired at what seemed to be a knot on a 
branch about sixty feet above me, for the purpose 
of making the fugitives reveal themselves, but my sur- 
prise may be imagined when a splendid male of the 
Franklin variety of the Canada grouse came tumbling 
down as dead as a door nail. As soon as he touched the 
ground the terrier began to mouth him, and to bark vio- 
lently, as if he were delighted with the capture. My 
companion fired at another supposed knot, and bagged 
a hen, evidently a mother. This induced us to fire at 
any prominent protuberance we saw, and we were re- 
warded for our labor by bagging four brace before the 
