UPLAND SHOOTING. 
261 
prairie farms have greatly increased. It is necessary to see the 
clouds of this insect which sometimes infest our fields, to realize 
the stories that are told us of the ravages of the locust in other 
lands. Now the increase of the numbers of the grasshopper has 
been found to keep pace with the destruction of the Prairie Hen 
or Grouse ; and, it may be, that some step may be taken by the 
Legislature of Illinois, prohibiting the killing of these birds by 
a law which would equally benefit the farmer and tend to pre¬ 
serve one of our noblest game birds. 
In July, the flesh of the Grouse is white, tender, and insipid. 
When the bird has attained his full size, his flesh is dark all over 
the body. I have heard some persons—of the class you mention 
as preferring the breast to the thighs and back bone of the ruf- 
ffed Grouse—insist that the bird was better when in its half-grown 
state than at any later period. I am decidedly of opinion, 
that until the Grouse arrives at its full size, its flavor is not per¬ 
fect, and that the bird is finer and fatter, communibus annis , in 
January, than any other month. I have been told by two of the 
best and keenest sportsmen of my acquaintance, that in the prai¬ 
ries remote not only from the cities, but farms, where the chief 
food of the Grouse consists of grasshoppers, prairie grass and 
grass seeds, the flesh has a peculiar and very fine flavor. This 
may be so, but I have never had any opportunity of testing it. 
I now proceed to my second point. I am unalterably of opin¬ 
ion that you are wrong about the mode of cooking the Grouse. I 
have fairly tried all your recipes, with a wish to be convinced of 
their excellence, and I am free to say that roast Grouse with 
bread sauce is not unsavory. But it hides its diminished head 
before Grouse properly broiled, served up very hot, and eaten 
from hot plates. I fear you are rather bigoted on this subject. 
Much theorising has hardened your heart. With the purpose of 
inducing you to review your—hasty—opinions on this vital point, 
and correct the errors of speculation by the lessons of experi¬ 
mental philosophy, I take the liberty of sending you six brace of 
Grouse, the freshest and finest I could select on this occasion. I 
