CHARACTERISTIC OF THE FEMALE 293 



"Brood 4-III was flushed. The female was chased away to a distance of 200 feet and one 

 of the party concealed himself in a thick white pine about 20 feet from the ground. Within 

 ten minutes, a chick began peeping 30 feet from the base of the pine. Then the female was 

 heard giving an alarm note about 40 feet on the other side of the pine from the chick. The 

 female approached rapidly on the ground, as could be told by following her continuous soft 

 clucking. Every moment or so between clucks she would give an alarm note. When she was 

 right under the pine in which the observer was concealed, she flew to the limb of another 

 pine about 10 feet from the ground. For two or three minutes she alternately clucked and 

 warned the chicks. The one chick stopped j)eeping. When the female was sure no danger was 

 near, she gave a series of low clucks and in two or three minutes all of the chicks collected 

 around her. Immediately they moved swiftly off to the east, with the female clucking softly." 



That the female is not indispensable, at least to older broods, has been demonstrated on 

 numerous occasions by the chicks moving off individually and collecting themselves. Ofttimes, 

 also, older chicks will endeavor to silence other chicks which start peeping. 



Don hie Broods 



On a inimber of occasions double broods have been iMirountered. usuallv with both females 

 present. In most cases, these a|)|)ear to rcprcsctil mcrcK chance mi'ctings. Ibi- fdllduiiig is 

 from the field notes of June II. 1932: 



"Two broods were flushed logcllicr in Section 1. Ihc female (if one brood was marked, 

 the female of the other was not, so that they were easily dislinguishable from one another. The 

 females were chased away while two observers concealed themselves in se|)arate trees about 

 30 feet from the ground. In about 1.5 miimtes, a chick began to peep. Soon another was 

 heard. The chicks of the two broods had become all mixed together, but were apjiarenllv 

 very easily separated by the females as follows: First the marked female was heard about 100 

 feet away. She warned the chicks, then came up swiftlv and passed directly under one of the 

 observers. All of the time she was giving alarm notes. After a few minutes she began to 

 call softlv. Her own chicks came from all directions, some ]ieeping loudly, and they all 

 moved off quickly to the north. Five minutes after the\ left, we heard the other female, who 

 seemed more wary than the marked bird. She passed under one of the observers and flew 

 to a low tree. Then she called her chicks together. It was about 20 minutes from the time the 

 marked female was flushed until she had collected her brood and moved away. It took the 

 other female about 30 minutes. There seemed to be lui iroiiMe in separating the chicks." 



There is some indication, however, that, later in the season, broods mav sometimes merge 

 permanently, especially if the female of one has been killed. In other cases. or])haned broods 

 have succeeded in maintaining themselves as a unit. 



Another interesting observation involves a female, whose nest was known to have been 

 broken up just before hatching, which was later flushed several times over a period of a 

 month with a brood of four chiiks. The identity of the hen was positive because she was 

 marked with colored tail feathers and the chicks were of normal age. 



In this connection, females which have lost their entire brood, especially during the early 

 part of the season, usually continue to act quite broody for sometime thereafter when flushed. 



Guidance 



Juveniles of any animal are. to a considerable degree, dependent on adult guidance in "learn- 

 ing the ropes" of their environment. This is particularly true of precocial species, such as the 



