LATE PINNATED-GROUSE SHOOTING. 73 



Now it is the reverse ; the middle of the day is 

 the proper time. When I first came to Illinois, 

 the grouse in October and later were mostly 

 found in the prairie-grass. There has now been a 

 change in their habits, and they seem to like best 

 to lie in corn. I suppose the reason was that as 

 prairies were much broken up, and the quantity 

 of land in corn rapidly increased, the grouse found 

 out that the lying in the corn was excellent, and 

 the habit was soon formed. In the corn there is 

 a great plenty of various kinds of food. The 

 ground is mellow and affords excellent dusting 

 places. In the West wheat is often sowed while 

 the corn is still standing, being put in with a 

 cultivator-plough. These wheat-fields in the corn 

 are favorite places with the grouse, and I have 

 many a time killed eighteen or twenty in one 

 such field. Also, when wheat is sowed out upon 

 the prairie, grouse will go to those fields at early 

 morning. When the sun gets high, they will go 

 into the prairie-grass, round the edges of the 

 young wheat, and lie there all the middle of the 

 day. Then there is nice shooting. At four or 

 five o'clock, towards evening, the birds will go 

 out upon the young wheat-fields again. This is in 

 clear weather. On cloudy days the grouse stay 



