268 AMERICAN GAME BIRD SHOOTING 
to be seen, he will observe their return, till the trees 
are almost covered, and the air resounds with the 
hoarse kuk-kuk-k-k-k. Frequently, in very cold and 
especially in falling weather, the grouse will not leave 
their perches during the day, but may be seen at any 
hour roosting quietly in the tops of the tallest cotton- 
woods. They are decidedly not graceful objects under 
these circumstances. They look very large, sharply 
defined among the bare straggling branches against 
the gray sky, and assume ungainly attitudes, particu- 
larly when standing erect on their long legs, with out- 
stretched necks and upturned tails. Their behavior 
under these circumstances varies in a manner to me 
inexplicable. Sometimes a group thus scattered among 
the treetops will permit the closest approach desired, 
and more than one may be brought down before the 
rest are off in alarm; not seldom one may fire twice or 
thrice at the same bird without dislodging it, or kill 
several without stirring from his tracks. But ordi- 
narily the chickens’ wits serve them to better purpose 
than this. As we approach, when just beyond range, 
the crackling of the underbrush attracts the attention 
of one of the birds, which before had been squatting 
‘like a bump on a log’; he rises on his feet and twists 
his neck around to have a look. The rest follow his 
example. A moment more the warning kuk-kuk-k 
sounds, and the nearest bird leaves his perch—the cry 
is taken up by the rest, and the whole are off to settle 
again a few hundred yards away, and tempt renewed 
pursuit that is likely to end as unsuccessfully. From 
