FOUR NOTABLES 203 
his flesh good for food, but, all through the year, he is one 
of the farmer’s good friends, gleaning, day in and day out, 
besides the waste grain that he loves, weed seeds, harmful 
beetles, such as the cucumber beetle, potato and squash 
bugs, leaf beetles, the dreaded weevils, and the click 
beetles, that are wire worms in a further stage of their 
development. 
“Ah me, but poor Bob-white, as he calls himself (bring- 
ing out the words with peculiar jerks of the head), works 
for his living, and when you think of the dangers he braves 
from foxes and snakes, rats and weasels, birds of prey with 
wings, and the two-legged birds of prey, —the poachers, 
—does it not seem that where his tribe is growing 
swiftly less, he should not only be fed and sheltered, but, 
for a term of years, there should be no open season, until 
this fertile and vigorous bird should again increase and 
be able to hold its own against even fair hunting? If the 
Quail needs this protection, doubly so does the Ruffed 
Grouse, who is larger and can with greater difficulty 
conceal himself. 
PARTRIDGES 
(Ruffed Grouse) 
Under the alders, along the brooks, 
Under the hemlocks, along the hill, 
Spreading their plumage with furtive looks, 
Daintily pecking the leaves at will; 
Whir! and they float from the startled sight — 
And the forest is silent, the air is still. 
Crushing the leaves ’neath our careless feet, 
Snapping the twigs with a heavy tread, 
Dreamy October is late and sweet, 
