S0NGLES8 BLRDH OF ORVHAIW AND WOODLAND. 269 



gang of lueti were cutting underbrush, while a Partridge 

 sitting there remained (juietly on her nest as the men worked 

 noisily all about her. Another l^ird that nested beside a 

 woods road, along which 1 walked daily, at first would fly 

 before I had come within a rod of her ; but later she became 

 confiding enough to sit on her nest while six persons passed 

 close Ix'side her. Evidently tiie bird's facilit}' in concealing 

 her nest consists in sitting close and keeping her eggs well 

 covered. Her ap[)arent faith in her invisibility is overcome 

 only by her fear of man or her dread of the fox. When the 

 fox is seen approaching directly toward her she bristles up 

 and flies at him, in the attempt to frighten him with the 

 sudden roar of her wings and the impetuosity of her attack; 

 but Reynard, although at first taken aback, cannot always 

 be deceived by such tricks ; and the poor bird, in her anxiety 

 to defend her nest, only betrays its whereabouts. Pn^bably, 

 however, the fox rarely finds her nest unless he lia])pens to 

 blunder directly into it. 



Dr. C. F. Hodge made some interesting experiments with 

 two trained bird dogs, a pointer and a setter, neither of 

 which could find a Partridge as she sat quietly on her nest. 

 The theor}' often used to ex[)lain this is, that the bird, being 

 frightened, sits with her feathers drawn close to her body, 

 and so "holds her scent." This is a matter, however, that 

 should be investigated with scientific accuracy; for, in spite 

 of all theories, the manner in which the bird escapes dis- 

 covery still remains a ni} stery. The })rotection, whatever 

 it is, is not always infallible, for occasionally a fox or dog 

 discovers the sitting bird apparently by scent. Mr. AVilliam 

 Brewster tells me that one of his doffs once found a Wood- 

 cock on her nest. All the young Grouse in a nest hatch at 

 nearly the same instant, their feathers dry very rapidl}^ and 

 they are soon ready to run about. When able to travel, 

 they leave the nest, and from that numient they become wan- 

 derers on the face of the earth. It is often asserted that the 

 Partridge leads her brood about after the manner of a Hen 

 with her Chickens. This may l)e true in some cases ; but 

 I think the 3'oung birds usually scatter and forage mainly 

 for themselves. They run about, stealing noiselessly along 



