SHOOTING THE PRAIRIE GROUSE 413 
in September or early October, one may find these 
broods of full-grown birds scattered over the hillsides 
at feeding time, and in the middle of the day gathered 
together in the shade of willows or box elders, or in 
a clump of rose bushes, from which, if disturbed, they 
rise with a startling roar and much cackling, to fly 
from seventy-five to two or three hundred yards, and 
drop in some convenient cover along the ravine or 
on a hillside. I have found them in southern Mon- 
tana under just these conditions, where, if one had had 
a good dog and a shooting pony, it would not have 
been difficult to exterminate the whole brood. 
It is soon after this, however, as the nights grow 
cold and frosty, that the birds get together in larger 
companies, several broods uniting, and in the early 
mornings take to the tops of the cottonwoods and wil- 
lows, where they keep that excellent lookout that Mr. 
Latrobe has so well described in.another species. At 
that time they are shy and quite impossible of approach 
in these exposed situations. 
Though the sharp-tailed grouse rises from the 
ground with noise enough to disconcert the gunner of 
slight experience, it is not a difficult bird to kill. The 
mark is large and the bird’s flight steady and straight. 
There is time enough to shoot carefully. At a straight- 
away, low-flying bird one may shoot directly, but 
crossing shots demand that the bird should be led a 
little. After all, this is almost wholly a matter of 
experience, and as almost all the shots are in the open, 
one may fire deliberately, and can, usually, if he misses, 
