GENERAL INTRODUCTORY REMARKS. 33 



found along the creeks, and they are sometimes 

 very bold. Last winter one made a sudden 

 pounce and grabbed a grouse I had just shot. I 

 gave him the No. 6 shot from the other barrel, 

 and as he was near I expected to sec him fair, 

 but he got away with the charge without the 

 grouse. 



From that which has been stated in this intro- 

 ductory chapter, it will be apparent that there is 

 no trouble in finding places where good shooting 

 may be had. Even where there are no pinnated 

 grouse, the sportsman may find plenty of work for 

 his dogs and his gun. It is not to be expected 

 that, in parts very thickly settled and populated, 

 there will be the abundance and variety of game 

 which might once be found. Many snipe-grounds 

 are now drained, and some are even thickly built 

 over. The brakes and thickets which once held 

 the woodcock have largely been cut up and 

 cleared away. Quail, however, are more nume- 

 rous in many States than they ever were before. 

 The shooting at them is excellent in most of the 

 counties of Ohio, Indiana, Illinois, Kentucky, 

 Iowa, Missouri, Wisconsin, and Minnesota. North- 

 ern Indiana and Michigan are also famous for 

 snipe and duck, as Illinois, Iowa, Missouri, and 



