The Grouse Ran Away. 
ditor Forest and Stream: 
In a recent number of Forest and Stream 
Ir. Hammond makes mention of a trick prac- 
ced by the ruffed grouse in eluding the hunter 
v running a long distance, then arising to fly 
' some distant cover. 1 he article recalled to 
y mind my first and only experience with that 
ary bird. 
It was in the mountains of Tennessee, and 
e month was November. I was hunting tur- 
■ys along the side of a mountain where the 
birds were known to come to feed, and al- 
lough the leaves under foot were damp, there 
ire still enough tardy ones clinging to the 
Ishes to scrape against one’s clothes and warn 
1 e keen ears of the woodfolks that danger was 
lar. I worked my way forward carefully as 
[ssible, but saw no turkeys. All at once I heard 
Taint scraping sound among the leaves further 
i the mountain. This was my initial turkey 
Int, but I reasoned that this might be the 
weted birds, scratching among the leaves for 
f)d, so I started in the direction of the noise, 
.t, although I proceeded as carefully as possi- 
lost to view in the distance. There was good 
cover about a mile away and possibly they flew 
there. At any rate I must have followed those 
birds at least a half mile through the bushes, 
although it seems queer that they did not run 
fast enough to entirely elude me. C. A. V. 
Skunk Discharge in the Eye. 
Springfield, Vt., Dec. 2 6.—Editor Forest and 
Stream: Apropos of the present discussion about 
the wood pussy, geranium kitten, or as more 
commonly called, the skunk, I wish to say that 
a local hunter here had a very peculiar and in¬ 
teresting experience some time ago, and I would 
like to know if any of your readers have known 
of a similar incident. 
The hunter in question was coon hunting on 
a very dark night. His dog was worrying some 
animal in the bushes, and he went to see what it 
was. The bushes being very thick, before he 
realized it he was close up with the dog, who 
was barking around a skunk, and he received a 
charge from the animal full in the face. A 
portion of the fluid, entering his eyes, caused 
him the greatest agony for about ten minutes, 
Nesting Woodcock. 
Milton, Ont., Dec. 17.— Editor Forest and 
Stream: Early last spring, to be exact, the first 
Sunday in April, I went for a walk accompanied 
by my spaniel. Flip, my dog, was in great spirits. 
We entered a slashing in the edge of a hard¬ 
wood bush, about half a mile from the town, and 
on my order, “Hunt him up” away went the 
dog, dashing here, there and everywhere. Soon 
up went a fine big woodcock about twenty yards 
from me uttering a cry that sounded like 
“Wheep, wheep.” I marked him down, per¬ 
haps, a hundred yards away and followed him 
up. “Wheep, wheep,” and he was off again, 
this time for parts unknown. Returning to the 
slashing Flip again became excited, there was 
another “Wheep, wheep” and another bird 
flushed, alighting out of sight. 
The following Sunday with Flip I returned 
to the slashing for further investigation. Up 
went the two birds in succession as before and 
with the same cry. I could hardly believe that 
the pair could be nesting so early in the season, 
but looked for the nest. Sure enough it was 
there in the leaves, so cunningly hidden that it 
was by mere chance that I found it. In it were 
three pretty brown eggs, remarkably large for 
the size of the bird that had laid them. As the 
day was raw and cold, and I feared they might 
be chilled if left too long exposed, I merely gave 
them an admiring glance and made off. 
I revisited the nest on the third Sunday, again 
accompanied by Flip. I approached it cautiously 
and found Mrs. Woodcock at home. She did 
not seem to mind me, but on seeing the black 
intruder that had disturbed her at the previous 
Sundays she rose, said something like “You 
whelp,” and disappeared. She had not been 
wasting her time during the week, for there lay 
egg number four, not beside the others, how¬ 
ever, but on top of them, thus settling for me 
a disputed point about the disposition of wood¬ 
cock’s eggs. She had been unable to cover the 
four side by side, and had formed them into a 
pyramid for incubation. 
I made a fourth call on the following Sun¬ 
day, found the little brown lady at her nest, 
and got close enough to admire her coal-black 
eyes, but left without disturbing her further. 
On going home, and for the first time let¬ 
ting my family know of the pretty denizens of 
the slashing, my daughters were as much in¬ 
terested as I, and proposed the introduction of 
a kodak. I declined to promise that Mrs. Wood¬ 
cock would consent to have “her pictur took,” 
but consented to the attempt. The camera was 
loaded and we set out for our family call, leav¬ 
ing Flip at home. 
On our arrival Mrs. Woodcock received us 
without any apparent excitement, and sat tight. 
The color of her costume blended so perfectly 
with that of the dead leaves that it was very 
hard to sight her with the camera. She was 
snapped, but the kodak operator feared and sug¬ 
gested that I should try to make her hold up 
her head, which she held very low. I got a 
FORT GARRY. 
From an old print. 
1 the noise seemed to move away from me. 
illy I reached the top of the mountain where 
< woods were comparatively open and here 
id to look around, but I could see nothing. 
; sli 8 h t rustling in the rear of a fallen tree 
me to investigate. There was a little path 
ling down the mountain through a thicket, 
scarcely had I stepped into it when some- 
1 = began scolding and carrying on at a great 
1 in the thicket in front of me, and before 
.uld locate it up rose a dozen or more grouse 
1 the speed of the wind. I could hear others 
1 ug the treetops about me, but owing to the 
ie thicket could get no shot, 
hnning to the open I watched the birds until 
and he firmly believed that he would never se 
again. This wore away and now comes th 
strange part of the story. 
As I said, the night was very dark, and th 
men were all carrying lanterns, but the hunte 
could see quite clearly, as at twilight. The effec 
appeared to be to dilate the pupil of the eye lik 
atropine. This condition lasted through th 
greater part of the rest of the night, and enable 
him to travel without a light and see clear! 
across the valley to the opposite hills. 
I do not remember to have seen it ever statei 
that an accident of this kind produced such ; 
result on the human eye. 
W. W. Brown. 
