HERE THE TRACKS END 



often a foxy old cock will play a cun- 

 ning trick by running some distance, 

 then flying low and dropping to the 

 ground, running and hiding. The dog 

 striking this first scent begins making 

 game in earnest, while the eager sports- 

 man is kept in an exciting suspense, but 

 the bird fails to flush. Your dog, if he 

 is clever, begins roading in until that 

 keenly desired scent is again found, then 

 the slow and cautious work begins, and 

 if you are wise you will not lag behind, 

 but keep well up and near the dog, for 

 the roar of wings may be heard at any 

 moment when the old fellow tears loose 

 from his hiding place. It is these inci- 

 dents that make the sport so keen and 

 keeps one on his nerve at all times. 



Later in the season and even into 

 winter in localities where the birds are 

 plentiful, coveys of from six to eight 

 are often found, yet they never pack in 

 large quantities in the winter, as do 

 their cousins., the prairie chickens. 

 As winter approaches, the grouse 

 by nature has been preparing for the 



long, cold siege, the plumage becoming 

 heavier and denser all over the body, 

 the legs being thickly feathered even 

 down to the toes ; then, too, the 

 feathery hard scale which lines each 

 side of the toes, being barely noticeable 

 in summer, becomes quite extended by 

 winter, giving the bird a firmer footing 

 while walking on the icy crusts of the 

 snow, or in grasping snowy and ice-cov- 

 ered branches. Also after a heavy fall 

 of light, fine snow it may to some ex- 

 tent do the work of a snow shoe. Very 

 often in the woods I have tracked a 

 grouse for nearly two hundred yards 

 where it has been walking in the snow, 

 the chase ending generally in routing 

 out a wily old fellow squatting quietly 

 beside a log, or when the snow is light 

 and fairly deep the track suddenly 

 comes to an end with a fan-like depres- 

 sion in the snow, showing the print 

 made by the tail as it gave the snow a 

 sweep when the grouse took wing. Per- 

 haps, too, this may prove that the bird's 

 tail is a prominent factor in aiding him 



156 



