818 AMERICAN GAME BIRD SHOOTING. 
raise himself above the standing grain, and a spaniel to 
rout them from cover. The gun may kick a man off his 
perch occasionally, but that is a mere trifle compared to 
the sport enjoyed. Some men use step ladders when 
they have to shoot in thickets. These are placed at con- 
venient points, and when the fowlers mount them, the 
dogs are sent in to flush the birds. If the animals are 
successful, Mr. Philohela Minor is greeted with many a 
salute as he emerges from cover, and if he is sent to grass, 
the “‘grassers” congratulate themselves in no uncertain 
phrases. This plan of shooting cannot, of course, be 
generally adopted, but it will do for special occasions. 
The female is larger than the male, and weighs an 
ounce or two more. This makes her a special target 
for fowlers, but the man who would kill her in the spring 
or summer must be cruel or thoughtless, for her death 
means the loss of four or more young birds, and the rapid 
decimation of her family. She is the first to arrive from 
the South in the spring, being followed a week or fort- 
night later by the male. Her time of arrival varies from 
February to March, as it depends entirely on the con- 
dition of the weather; and her time of departure for the 
South, from November to December. The first flights 
that reach the Middle and Western States in the autumn 
are called ‘‘ flight birds.” These are distinguished from 
the permanent summer guests by the brighter color of 
the plumage on the breast, and their active habits, as 
they act like strangers in a place. When the birds are 
moulting, they keep under cover as much as possible, and 
seldom wander far from their places of concealment. If 
these are on the hillsides, the birds live mainly on the lit- 
tle white worms which are found on the under side of 
fallen leaves, and such other food as may be convenient. 
They turn over the leaves in a large extent of country in 
twenty-four hours, as they work rapidly each morning 
and evening, in order to be under cover when the sun ap- 
