THE RUFFED GROUSE 21 



twenty-two to twenty-seven ounces. The lieav- 

 iest bird of my own killing pulled the scales 

 down to twenty-eight ounces, and this with an 

 empty crop. The largest ''partridge" that I 

 ever saw weighed made a record of twenty- 

 nine and one-half ounces. I am well aware that 

 ''competent judges" will "estimate" and fur- 

 nish much more imposing figures, but I have 

 noticed that these do not always tally with the 

 scales. 



During our driving New England snow- 

 storms partridges will sometimes take refuge 

 from the cutting blasts or for a night's shelter 

 from the cold by plunging from the wing into 

 the heaped-up drifts, thence to emerge when 

 the storm has passed. It is said that they are 

 at times closed in by an icy sleet following upon 

 the snow and making a crust through which 

 they cannot break. In such cases the unfortu- 

 nate prisoners are apt to furnish an unexpected 

 feast to some prowling fox whose famine-sharp- 

 ened nose has traced them out. This may cause 

 more destruction than is realized, but the dan- 

 ger is probably more theoretical than actual. 

 There is usually small need to burrow at all in 

 this latitude; furthermore, do you not think 



