THE RUFFED GROUSE. 165 
lation is very limited, and foxes are scarce in the woods, 
while they have an immense area of forest in which to 
dwell securely; an area which will not be intruded upon 
by man, to any extent, for many, many years to come. 
No part of the world can compete with the regions ad- 
joining the Pacific Ocean, north of Central California, in 
the abundance of the ruffed grouse, as everything is fa- 
vorable to their existence, and they are not slaughtered 
by market hunters as they are in other parts of the Con- 
tinent. Many are, however, killed and snared by the 
Indians, but not enough to make any appreciable dimi- 
nution in their numbers. They are generally sought for 
in summer in places where berries are to be found; and 
in autumn where such mast as acorns and nuts are com- 
mon; but in winter they must be looked fcr in trees. 
When some farmers find a place which they frequent 
either in search of food or gravel to digest it, or to enjoy 
a dust bath, they snare them by means of nets or traps. 
A very common form of trap in some portions of the 
country is a wooden fence two or more feet in height, 
and five or six hundred feet in length. This is erected 
near a hillside where fruit or mast is abundant, as the 
birds will travel long distances to feast on these dainties. 
The interstices of the fence having been filled with 
brushwood, grass, and leaves, holes having a diameter of 
three or four inches are made at close intervals, and 
nooses made of fine brass wire are suspended in these, 
so that nothing can pass through without being caught. 
When the birds encounter this obstruction they run 
along its course until they meet the hole, and in attempt- 
ing to pass through it they are caught so tightly that 
one seldom escapes. To make the certainty of the cap- 
ture greater, the trappers construct narrow runways on 
each side of the fence, as the birds have a peculiar habit 
of travelling on a path in hopes of being able to get some 
opening that will allow them to craw] through an ob- 
