108 PINNATED GROUS. 



I have likewise conversed with several men who were brought up 

 at the precincts of the grouse-ground, who had been witnesses of 

 their habits and manners, 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 avoirdupoise. 

 But the eagerness of the sportsman is so great, that a large pro- 

 portion of those they kill, are but a few months old, and have not 

 attained their complete growth. Notwithstanding 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 arrange- 

 ment 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 asso- 

 ciation 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 exer- 

 tions; 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 toward their preservation. 

 Grouse, especially full-grown ones, are becoming less frequent. 

 Their numbers are gradually diminishing; 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 hand- 

 some 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. 



