BLUE GROUSE— RICHARDSON'S GROUSE, DENDRAGOPUS RICHARDSONI. 



fo the summits of the higher mountains. 

 There the heart of a Scot would be glad- 

 dened by the familiar cackle of the covey, 

 rising from the heather almost like that of 

 the red grouse of his native land. The 

 flight is heavy and slow compared with 

 that of the ruffed or sharp tail grouse; but 

 when going down hill the blue grouse 

 drops like a thunderbolt. I once saw one 

 of these birds distance a golden eagle in 

 a headlong dive of several thousand feet 

 down the side of a mountain. 



The male bird is much larger than the fe- 

 male, and is a splendid grouse. It is only 

 exceeded in size by the sage grouse and the 



capercailzie of Europe, which last it much 

 resembles. 



The flesh is dark, though not so dark as 

 prairie chickens', and is whiter in young 

 birds and darker in the old males. 



Both Richardson's and the sooty grouse 

 have a splendid yellow " comb " over the 

 eye, in male birds, which can be erected or 

 depressed at pleasure. 



A curious feature is their invisibility in 

 the winter; where they go is a mystery. 

 The Indians claim they congregate in the 

 tops of high fir trees, and never come to the 

 ground at this season, which seems to be 

 the case. 



A JUVENILE DIANA. 



Woodworth, Mont. 



Editor Recreation: I have read in Rec- 

 reation of several little girls shooting 

 different kinds of game. One has killed a 

 rabbit, one a bear, and another has helped 

 to kill a lion. As I live in a game country 

 and have done some hunting, I would like 

 to tell you of some of my trips in the 

 mountains, with my brothers. I have 

 hunted more or less for several years. 



Some time ago I killed a large elk, and 

 last spring I killed a black bear. The elk 

 I shot once and the bear I shot at twice. 

 I missed him the first shot and killed with 

 the second shot. He fell dead in his tracks. 

 I used a 25-35 smokeless Winchester, for 

 the elk and bear. Have also killed a great 

 many grouse. 



I have read the controversy in Recrea- 

 tion about big and little bore guns. My 

 little gun is big enough for any use. I am 

 only 13 years old. Can any other little girl 

 beat my record? 



Jennie A. Peers. 



