The Houston daily post. [volume] (Houston, Tex.) 1886-1903, 1902-09-09

for grouse shoot;ne commences in Az
80, rh;. !. $3.50. -. 49,.
moil'h 'oo Sa'iy s'.'0e
many of the birds have then, an i'm
in,arre aieht and no anttering OUT OF the
grass or snibblc with speed not mucb
better than that OF the rails presenting
| marks which in no way test the skill OF
the sportsman. Il is too. excessively hot
on the praries in August and so dry and
dusty that the dogs have great diiic,.itv
in fading and puint;ne Inc game and az
ten suffer from thirst on TIE bigh niains
Of the Northwest the tcmoerature 4 bct-
ter and the MANY small takes and not,da
furnish water for the doee Tho oncrinp
day for grouse in Scotland is August
and this date wo,ud do for North dakota
Montana and Manitoba / hnv, had many
good DAYS IN Dakota ard Montana In
the latter part of Auriist when the kirds
were fairly strong on the wing mt for
many reasons an, OF the opinion th7t
September should be The nneniny dov for
grouse shooting in America THE n Tho
best date when ali fhc Sfstes arc can
sidered and rnifor1nity ie Desirable And
since the birds have randy diu,i.,iebed
it Is veil 10 have ! sbnrt es.gon
North America il especially rich IN
grouse and these native birds are ne ,ood
/ upon the table rs tho Unmarried nbeasa,1ts
from Asia. They have. also he rnrne- Ike
auality OF living we'll 10 the dos rrlv;,o
,ipon their inconsn;cnous nrotcciiyr ,,,,ri,
ings. while the gorgeous fowl from Nc
Ofieet often take 10 their lrqs in wav
60 exaspc~ntc well-trnircd eetters N,,cL
attention has been eivrn IL rerent veats H.
the Importation and nropagafion ~ ne
foreign birds. Nearly every state h tho
Union has passed laws for tbeir nrotcct;ot,
for a period OF wears Some of the S,ates
have pheasant farms and hatchorics. and
in Oregon the Monaghan phonsarits are
now shot with the other game VIII .
there is not The objection IN Tie i,tro-
duction OF tkese birds that thcre is ~ tbs
sparrows ard The carr. i would direct tbe
attention OF DE sportsnieh and lawmakers
good BIRDS OF our own and the game
a. ', fhe i.gnt VIZ infNe provision
birds IRON Massachuseus To- Kenticsy
where they have been exterrinated and
LOT lile Ge..sI preservation OF those that
and attention 10 an infcr;o 1o forc;e T XIII i
In the early autumn. with the first sug-
scstion of frost III the air, the grouse be-
come Way. They are then strong on
the wing and are excellent marks and
magnificent indeed is the snort on prairie
or plain with weil-trained dogs Roth the
pinnatcd or prairie grouse and the sharp-
tailed grouse OF the Northwestern plains
arise from the ground with the loud ,vbir-
ring noise common to ali galliuaceous birds
and fly usually on straight lines alternate
ly Uhirring and sailing with extended
wings like the meadow lark These birds
weigh from two to two and a half pounds
They are much alike and are often mis-
taken the one for the other But the mark
ings of the under parts OF the prairie
grouse are crosswisc, while the markings
OF the under parts Of the sharp-tailed grouse
are lengthwise The general color mark.
ngs OF the prairie grouse ave rich
brown in places almost black and the
shaIp-tail is more gray and dusky and
almost white underneath. The short sharp
pointed tail of the Northern bird OF course
suggested the name.
80
,rh. ,,,;.;o .,.s
s'ouse were Hol lonB ago
abundant as lar east as ONO and Kentucky.
In Audubon's time they were regarded
in Kentucky as nests since thew destroved
Sf 49, N''' ~ ~
/ inc puus OF tue fult trees,
Geographically, these two grouse inter
! mingle: the eastern limit Of the common
ground is Northern Illinois. In general
, way tn pinnated or prairie grouse NAV be
said to prefer the prairies az the Mississ-
ippi valley. where the Wild grasses GROW,
] longer and more luxuriantly Than tbev
do on the HIGH Mains az tbe West and
Northwest where the sharn-tails are
abundant
Mr. Whitehead in paner written for
the Centrr,, n,Lee ~ s,,+o,,n,,t H..
minated
grouse now extends 10 the Paci6c b,t !
{ heard Of none when on that coast and Ind
1 no ornitholoeicaI record 70 s,stain en- hin I'm
/ Baird saws that when the nrairie orn,,se
and the sharn-tails are foupd assoc;ated
i, the latter are alwavs The last abrnJa,,t
The statement is only true az the eastern
part Of their common oroi,,6 Ia tbe
West | found but few nrSirie cb;ckens on
T the plains where the sbarn-taits we're
3 abundant and although the nrairie cro,,se
are moving westward and tbe con,,,,o,
area OF these birds has bern much extc,d'
o ed. there can he no doubt thst Inc nrair;e
+ grouse are still the least abnndant IN
j the Dakotas and in fact thro,,ghn,,t tbn
4 western part OF their common area 4
! few years ago. when grouse sbootins IN
North Dakota with the Indian assnt ~
!. the Cut-head Sioux agency we seldom
, found prairie grouse 'fn several sensons
e doubt II / Killed a half dozen n tLees
a birds but the sharp-taiis we're verv nien-
tiful. AZ Fort Keoph and other ntsces In
Montana we shot many sharn-tails hui al.
though / travelled in The saddle over a
thousand miles upon the plains watered
by the Yellowstone and lis tributaries and
shot sharp-tails almost every dav did