WHITE-FLESHER VERY DELICIOUS. 43 



birds rise and fly upon a tree without a sound ; 

 but only walk up to them,' and a sharp whirring 

 noise is invariably produced when they flush. 

 As soon as the chickens can follow, the dark 

 swamp-brush is abandoned, and the favourite 

 locality is an open hillside ; especially if a moun- 

 tain-burn comes brawling down among the rocks, 

 resting here and there in coy little pools 

 drinking-foun tains of Nature's own contriving. 

 Here too grass-seeds, berries, and insects are in 

 abundance, and the woolly little chickens feed 

 right royally. 



They never, like the sharp-tailed grouse, pack, 

 but almost* invariably keep together in broods ; 

 they love to frequent trails or sandbanks, 

 where they can dust themselves. They are 

 bitter enemies to ants : having a weakness for the 

 eggs, they scrape and scatter to the winds their 

 little wood-piles, the toil and labour of hundreds 

 of busy architects, sending the building material 

 flying far and wide, until the egg-treasury is 

 reached, and ruthlessly despoiled. 



From September to Christmas the ' white- 

 flesher' (for so he is named) is at his best, 

 having had the full benefit and advantage of the 

 berry and nut season ; his flesh is pure white, and 

 he is most delicious before he begins to. devour 

 the leaves of the fir ; this he does as soon as the 



