The Ruffed Grouse 119 



with her wings, which kept up a thunderous 

 whirring. She acted exactly Hke a wrathful old 

 fowl, and the pup like a condemned fool. The 

 utter discomfiture of the pup, the abruptness of 

 the interruption, and the astounding valor of the 

 old hen gave me temporary paresis, for, in trying 

 to see a little more, I forgot where I was, stepped 

 off my rock, and brought up in about four feet 

 of ice-cold water. 



To first swear, then secure the pup and lie low 

 for developments, was a natural sequence. The 

 young were in the trees, several of them visible 

 after a cautious scrutiny, and in about ten min- 

 utes there sounded a low, musical chirruping very 

 like the sound emitted by a red squirrel between 

 the coughing, sputtering notes. Presently one 

 and another of the young responded with cries 

 like those of very young turkeys ; then one after 

 another fluttered down and ran to their anxious 

 mother. 



An interesting query is, for what did the 

 mother mistake the dog } for I am convinced 

 that she had no idea what he was. Possibly she 

 took him for a fox, or a wolf, for surely her in- 

 stinct would have warned her not to try such 

 tactics with one of the cat kind, any of which 

 almost certainly would have destroyed her with 

 one sweep of a nimble paw. A possible solution 

 is that she did not at all understand the silent, 



