THE RUFFED GROUSE. 163 
attention to the ethics of gunning, but bangs away at it, 
and congratulates himself if he places it in his bag. One 
of the greatest essentials to success in pursuing ruffed 
grouse is to keep a strict silence, and have a good steady 
dog that will work slowly and cautiously, and be satisfied 
to point on catching even a faint odor. No high-met- 
tled, fast ranger will do, as the birds will not lie to him, 
except in the early portion of the season, and not very 
well then; and late in the autumn it is a very difficult 
matter for a dog to get near enough to a group to enable 
the fowler to shoot with any assured degree of success, 
so that he must be satisfied to take shots at all distances. 
Spaniels would, evidently, be well adapted to their pur- 
suit, and so would setters trained on snipe, as this bird 
gives steadiness to any dog in a short time. Pointers 
are not fitted for this rough work, as they are too 
fast and nervous, and their thin coating cannot stand 
the briars and tangled shrubbery, and the heavy showers 
of dew or rain which the undergrowth pours down when 
disturbed by a shaking. 
This grouse seems to be somewhat indiscriminate in its 
choice of roosting places, being equally at home on a fallen 
log, a tree, a fence, and even the ground. It seeks shelter 
in the highest trees, or the snow, during the winter, being 
rarely found roosting on logs. Some persons say it can 
swim well, but this, I should fancy, was a mistake. It 
is a general belief that adult males seldom leave the vi- 
cinity of their favorite drumming logs, unless they have 
been shot at a great deal, and that they return to them 
at the earliest opportunity. One reason for this belief 
is, that the excrementary deposits near the logs are large, 
and that the bark is well worn away where the birds 
parade. 
Two varieties of the ruffed grouse have been found on 
the Pacific Coast, but they differ from the typical species 
only ina slight degree, principally in color, and that, no 
