24 
THE CABINET OF NATURAL HISTORY, 
October,) — the country over which you roam is either 
barren mountains or endless plains, — no shelter from the 
sun, nor supplies of water to slake the thirst, — and a con- 
tinued growth of scrub bushes to pass through, injurious to 
the dogs, and exceedingly difficult for the Sportsmen to 
overcome. Besides, you often wander a day or more with- 
out seeing a bird; and, after exhausting all this time, your 
strength, and patience, you are obliged to return many 
miles, on foot, to some habitation for the night It re- 
quires, also, that you should hunt with great caution and 
quietness; the human voice should never be heard, espe- 
cially if your dogs have struck a trail, and are in the 
vicinity of the game. You must then be on the alert, — 
and when your dogs draw to a steady point, your chief 
object must be to kill the first bird that rises — for a pack 
of Grouse may be at band, and by silence, and killing the 
first bird, you stand a fair chance of getting the remainder. 
The bird which usually rises first, is the leader of the 
whole, and is the parent cock bird, — and if he is not 
killed before he challenges or alarms the others, you may 
lose several fine chances, because the remainder, on hear- 
ing the cry of alarm from their leader, will immediately 
take wing, and escape. But if, on the contrary, the alarm is 
prevented, the others will remain in their seclusion, until 
you can at leisure drive them up one by one, and get the 
whole. The report of your gun will not alarm them, — 
but a single word spoken, will spoil your sport. It is to 
be understood, however, that your dogs must he of the 
first order — perfectly staunch — and which will not break 
away on your fire; at this time the birds may be scattered 
about, either wallowing in the earth, or in search of food, 
and forms one of the most propitious periods for the 
Sportsman. 
Should you be successful in the early part of the day, 
or on your outward range, by bagging several birds, it 
will be advisable to disencumber yourself from your 
burthen — provided you calculate to return nearly the same 
route. In doing this, you must first select a cool spot, 
under the shadow of some rocks, or the most dense shrub- 
bery you can find, and after scraping away the surface of 
the earth, there deposit your game. You must cover it 
with moss, if you can get it, or green leaves, and on this, 
or around it, place two or three pieces of tow, with burnt 
powder on it, which you can procure by wiping your gun. 
The object of this is to preserve the game from vermin, 
particularly foxes, which it will effectually do. One im- 
portant point to observe, is, that you should tie the neck 
of each bird so completely tight as to admit no air; and 
plug the vent with charcoal, prepared for the purpose by 
being cut into a form somewhat like a sugar-loaf, only ta- 
pering to a sharp point. This will preserve the birds a 
much longer time than if omitted; and no Sportsman 
should think these preparations too troublesome, on an 
expedition of that kind. The difficulty of killing the 
birds, and the labour and expense attending these excur- 
sions, make it desirable that all means should be resorted 
to, to bring your game home in a good state of preservation. 
The Pinnated Grouse describes a straight, but very 
long line of flight. You must, therefore, mark their 
course, as correct as you can, and after you have adjusted 
matters, follow immediately in their wake. You thereby 
not only stand a fair chance of coming on the same birds 
again, but of finding others in your route. 
In respect to the size of shot to be employed, many 
Grouse hunters use larger sizes than are necessary, say B, 
1, 2, 3. But in this, as in other cases, I have a great 
aversion to large shot. Grouse are generally hunted be- 
fore they are matured, or fully fledged, and much 
smaller shot is capable of destroying them, than either of 
the above sizes. I would recommend you never to use 
larger than No. 3, but of choice No. 4 or 5. 
If your gun is of ll-16ths calibre, and proportionably 
heavy, she will be found suitable for the purpose; but you, 
of course, must use more powder and shot at Grouse than 
you would at smaller game. 
I have often wondered why Sportsmen should so sel- 
dom hunt the Ruffed Grouse. In size, it nearly equals 
the Pinnated Grouse, and, in the fall, I think is quite as 
good eating. And what appears more strange, is, that 
gentlemen will incur great expense, — travel fifty or a 
hundred miles, with a train of dogs, — spend one or two 
weeks in pursuit, and generally return with no more than 
four or five brace of the latter. Whereas half the time and 
expense will answer, with two good dogs, to insure thrice 
the success with the former, from grounds more adjacent. 
The Spotted Grouse is less known than either of the 
foregoing species, as they are not to be found in any of the 
middle, southern, or western states; they inhabit the north 
part of Maine, the Canadas, and the regions of the Rocky 
Mountains. To the north they are called the Spruce 
Partridge and Canada Grouse; but larger and more valua- 
ble game exists in such abundance there, that the Spotted 
Grouse is thought unworthy of the hunter’s notice. The 
portrait and history of this bird will be given in No. 4, 
Yol. III. page 85, of this work. 
The other three species are found only in the far west, 
particularly the Cock of the Plains, which inhabits that 
country beyond the Rocky Mountains, particularly the 
low lands along the Columbia river, and in size is as large 
as the female Turkey. These of course cannot be objects 
of pursuit, by the Sportsmen of this or the next genera- 
tion. I. 
