FEATHERED GAME

IT is out of the question to treat the signs and tracks of birds with the same thoroughness as those of mammals, because the tracks of several birds reproduce exactly those of domestic fowls, and those made by young birds of one kind may look like those of old birds of another variety. A description of bird tracks will, however, be found interesting, and perhaps useful at certain times, especially by the inexperienced hunter.

The locality where a given track is seen is the main point to be considered. Tame turkeys and domestic chickens do not, as a rule, venture great distances from the barnyard, so if tracks similar to theirs are seen far from human habitation, it is usually safe to conclude that wild birds made them. In the case of waterfowls, however, even the consideration of the locality, under certain circumstances, does not exclude errors; so the hunter, if he sees tracks from which he might deduce the presence of these birds in his immediate locality, should employ his resources to find out for certain whether his deductions are correct or not. The descriptions are of necessity limited, and the reader should study the illustrations as the more important part of the matter.

UPLAND BIRDS

The Turkey

The tracks of this, the largest of game birds, differ in nowise from those of the domestic kind. In the woods—in wild turkey country—they usually indicate their presence by scratching up the ground cover in search of food, just as domestic fowls do under similar circumstances, and by their droppings. The latter are the more important as a means of identification.

Wild turkeys, when habitually or temporarily frequenting a given locality, have their favorite trees upon which they roost, and under these trees the droppings will be very plentiful. Some hunters wait at such roosting places during the evening or morning and get their game; sometimes the bird may have treed five hundred yards or more away, but the expert, who is not given to guesswork, makes it his purpose to ascertain all the turkey trees in a district, notes the easiest way to approach them, and then, during the early evening hours he will, from a convenient point, mark down the birds which he hears treeing. Then during the hour before daybreak he will go noiselessly as near as possible to a roosting tree which he knows harbors one or more turkeys, and after it is light enough to shoot he will experience little trouble in stalking as close as is necessary to get his bird.

The Sage Grouse

The track of the sage hen is about the size of that of a small domestic chicken, but the toes at their base are somewhat broader, giving the entire track a different aspect.

In the spring and autumn months the birds frequent sagebrush flats and hillsides, and during the early autumn they seek the vicinity of water, and there, if it were not that their toes are rather short in comparison with their broadness, the tracks might be mistaken for those of the pheasant in any place where that game bird has been introduced.

Pheasant

The middle toe of the pheasant stands almost in a straight line in the trail, and this feature is the most striking one whereby to distinguish its track from the tracks of any of our native game birds.

Grouse

The members of this class, in which are included the various varieties of the ruffed grouse and those of the Spruce or Blue grouse, all spread their feet in similar fashion, and walk with the middle toes pointed inward to a considerable degree. Because of this similarity the size of the tracks and the length of steps are the only means by which to identify the particular species which made them. The ruffed grouse make the shortest steps and the smallest tracks.

The illustrations show the tracks and trail of a dusky grouse of ordinary size, and of an unusually big ruffed grouse cock.

The drawings were made under ideal tracking conditions; and only then is it possible to note the difference in the number of the knots of the middle toe. Though, as a general rule, the ruffed grouse usually frequents rather low country and the blue-grouse tribe is generally found on high grounds, the locality where a track is seen gives no sure indication of the species. The writer has frequently encountered the ruffed grouse at altitudes of over seven thousand feet, and the blue grouse lower down than he ever found the ruffed variety.

Prairie Chickens

From the prairie hen to the sharp-tailed grouse, they all belong to one order as far as their tracks are concerned. A prairie chicken does not spread the toes to the same extent as does the grouse of the woods, and the middle toes stand also somewhat straighter in the line of the trail. The tracks made by the sharp-tailed grouse are always of a rather blurred appearance because of the heavily feathered feet.

Quail

The size of the quail's track is about that of a domestic pigeon. A peculiarity of the track is that the mark of the hind toe stands comparatively far off from the track on account of its singular disproportion to the size of the foot.

In the pursuit of grouse, chickens, etc., the hunter usually notes tracks less than other signs. Foremost among the latter are the places where the birds take sand baths, where stray feathers will usually be found. Countless interwoven small paths, leading everywhere and nowhere in grass and grain fields, are infallible signs that birds have fed there.

Woodcock

The neatest bird track seen in upland hunting is, in the writer's opinion, that of the woodcock. True, this fascinating Long-face has generally gone to warmer climes before winter sets in, but occasionally an early snowstorm catches him, and then his tracks are a striking feature near springy places in forests, or under dense trees that hold most of the snow aloft on their branches. The splendid imprints are as unmistakable among bird tracks as the tracks of the mountain sheep among big game, and as unforgettable if once seen.

WATERFOWLS

Swans, Geese, Ducks

The tracks of these aquatic game birds are so much alike that only the difference in size makes it possible to distinguish the species and varieties of ducks and geese; if they are of similar size they cannot possibly be told apart. Where the tracks are seen during cold weather at small open streams or springs, it is certain that the birds visit there at night, doubtlessly coming from a big stream or lake, perhaps many miles distant; by waiting for them at sundown royal sport can be obtained. During summer, on grassy places near water, young geese and ducks usually make numerous small paths, similar to those made by upland birds, but broader.

PREDATORY BIRDS

The Great Horned Owl

The great horned owl is of interest to the sportsman merely by reason of the depredations which some members of this tribe commit on small game. Where not forced by a scarcity of small game to subsist on mice, etc., this owl lives almost exclusively on rabbits and birds. The writer remembers an instance where one specimen killed every beaver kid and muskrat on a creek several miles along its course. The owl's tracks are very rarely seen, but from the undigested refuse which he ejects through his mouth (for he swallows all his prey, hair, bones, etc., when feeding) frequently found thickly strewn under his favorite roosting trees (usually densely branched), it can readily be ascertained what the light-shy fellow lives on, and if he proves to be an outlaw, his death will benefit the hunting ground.

Hawks

Notwithstanding claims to the contrary, all hawks, with the exception of the sparrow hawk, are injurious. Even the much-lauded marsh hawk in open districts lives exclusively on small birds, that is, at least, in the West. In timbered country, where he is too ungainly to catch winged prey, by force of necessity he has to subsist on small injurious rodents which he can catch in the open.

Whoever has observed with open eyes and an open mind the actions of hawks, knows that it will pay the sportsmen well to fill them with lead at every opportunity. Imitating their mating call—an easy matter—is the most satisfactory method of getting them within range, and it is also a very entertaining pastime during the close season. The hunter selects a good cover for himself in a locality which he knows or suspects to be infested by the pests, and sounds his cac-cac-cac—or, kee-kee-kee-e-e—dependent upon which variety of eagles or hawks he wishes to call, and if a hawk is within hearing, he is never long in coming.

Various Birds

For the sake of comparison, and because also some of them are very interesting, results of my observations of the tracks of several birds not of the game class are herewith given.

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