Any of various game birds in the family Tetraonidae (order Galliformes), including the prairie chicken and ptarmigan, or the sandgrouse (order Columbiformes).
One cat, according to Mr. St. John, always brought home game birds, another hares or rabbits, and another hunted on marshy ground and almost nightly caught woodcocks or snipes.
Our bird-hunting season ends toward the end of February, when mating begins, and the quail and doves have their mystic calendar marked with the date as plainly as our own. During the hunting season they are wise and wary.