. Guns and gunning. but not so our upland game birds. Besidesthe food they get from the grain fields, their naturalenemies are fewer. GROUSE AND WOODCOCK Probably no two upljmd game birds are betterknown and appreciated by sportsmen than thegrouse and woodcock. They combine to a highdegree those traits that make them worthy of thehunters skill. The woodcock is a recluse, and hisrange is small; but wherever there are trees andrunning water, from the Atlantic to the Pacific,we find the ruffled grouse or his brothers. Their movements seem shrouded in , the alder thickets may be dese
. Guns and gunning. but not so our upland game birds. Besidesthe food they get from the grain fields, their naturalenemies are fewer. GROUSE AND WOODCOCK Probably no two upljmd game birds are betterknown and appreciated by sportsmen than thegrouse and woodcock. They combine to a highdegree those traits that make them worthy of thehunters skill. The woodcock is a recluse, and hisrange is small; but wherever there are trees andrunning water, from the Atlantic to the Pacific,we find the ruffled grouse or his brothers. Their movements seem shrouded in , the alder thickets may be deserted, savefor an occasional grouse; and to-morrow the hunt-ers bag will overflow. In Massachusetts thereare, as a rule, two flights. The first, coming aboutthe time of the first frost, is composed of the birdsthat have gone far north to breed; the second isthe Northern flight. The birds composing the firstflight are found in the alders and bottoms; but thesecond flight birds, strange to relate, seem to prefer,f. 60. the hillsides and oak thickets. The woodcockswhereabouts depend so largely upon climatic con-ditions, that the successful hunter must be a carefulstudent of their habits, and thoroughly familiar withthe country over which he is hunting. A manmight live for years within easy reach of a goodwoodcock cover, and not see a bird. The rangeof the woodcock is very small compared with thatof our other game birds. The principal flight isalong the Atlantic States; and they are never foundin the West. The woodcock probes for its foodwith its long bill, and the holes or borings thatthey make while feeding can be seen in the softmud in the bottom lands. The woodcock has a very tender skin, and iseasily killed; its flight is short, and it can often befollowed and flushed again if it has escaped fromthe hunter. The thick brush is what makes suc-cessful woodcock shooting difficult, and the huntermust be a good snap-shot. The woodcock isunsurpassed as a table or game bird. The ruffle
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Keywords: ., bookauthorbe, bookcentury1900, bookdecade1900, booksubjecthunting
