396 PINNATED GROUSE. 



who were accustomed to shoot them for the market, and who 

 have acted as guides to gentlemen who go there for sport. 



" Bulk. — An adult grouse, when fat, weighs as much as a 

 barn-door fowl of moderate size, or about three pounds 

 avoirdupois. But the eagerness of the sportsmen is so great, 

 that a large proportion of those they kill are but a few months 

 old, and have not attained their complete growth. Notwith- 

 standing the protection of the law, it is very common to 

 disregard it. The retired nature of the situation favours this. 

 It is well understood that an arrangement can be made which 

 will blind and silence informers, and that the gun is fired with 

 impunity for weeks before the time prescribed in the act. 

 To prevent this unfair and unlawful practice, an association 

 was formed a few years ago, under the title of the Brush Club, 

 with the express and avowed intention of enforcing the game 

 law. Little benefit, however, has resulted from its laudable 

 exertions ; and under a conviction that it was impossible to 

 keep the poachers away, the society declined. At present 

 the statute may be considered as operating very little towards 

 their preservation. Grouse, especially full-grown ones, are 

 becoming less frequent. Their numbers are gradually dimi- 

 nishing ; and, assailed as they are on all sides, almost without 

 cessation, their scarcity may be viewed as foreboding their 

 eventual extermination. 



" Price. — Twenty years ago, a brace of grouse could be 

 bought for a dollar. They now cost from three to five dollars. 

 A handsome pair seldom sells in the New York market now- 

 a-days for less than thirty shillings [three dollars, seventy-five 

 cents], nor for more than forty [five dollars]. These prices 

 indicate, indeed, the depreciation of money and the luxury of 

 eating. They prove, at the same time, that grouse are 

 become rare ; and this fact is admitted by every man who 

 seeks them, whether for pleasure or for profit. 



" Amours. — The season for pairing is in March, and the 

 breeding time is continued through April and May. Then 

 the male grouse distinguishes himself by a peculiar sound. 



