Grouse Feathers

Burton Spiller is the recognized authority on grouse—"king of the upland game birds." He was born in Maine in 1886 and died in 1973. During his life, he was somewhat of a Renaissance Man—he made and played violins, grew prize-winning flowers, wrote plays, short stories, and poems, was a mechanic, a welder, and served in World War II making submarines. Derrydale first published him in 1935, and his books continue to be considered the classics of all grouse hunting literature.

Originally published in 1935, Spiller's book on grouse is the textbook for tweed-wearing, pipe-smoking, double-shooting New England grouse and woodcock hunters. Although the language sounds a bit stilted today, after a couple of chapters you'll want to head to Maine, even if you don't know a partridge from a ptarmigan. Heartwarming tales well told, this deserves the classic moniker.