Redrtifi 45 



they were taught * whirring.* A partridge can 

 rise on the wing silently if it wishes, but whir- 

 ring is so important at times that all are taught 

 how and when to rise on thundering wings. 

 Many ends are gained by the whirr. It warns 

 all other partridges near that danger is at hand, 

 it unnerves the gunner, or it fixes the foe's at- 

 tention on the whirrer, while the others sneak 

 off in silence, or by squatting, escape notice. 



A partridge adage might well be * foes and 

 food for every moon.* September came, with 

 seeds and grain in place of berries and ant-eggs, 

 and gunners in place of skunks and minks. 



The partridges knew well what a fox was, 

 but had scarcely seen a dog. A fox they knew 

 they could easily baffle by taking to a tree, but 

 when in the Gunner Moon old Cuddy came 

 prowling through the ravine with his bob-tailed 

 yellow cur, the mother spied the dog and cried 

 out 'Kwit! KwUr (Fly, fly). Two of the 

 brood thought it a pity their mother should 

 lose her wits so easily over a fox, and were 

 pleased to show their superior nerve by spring, 

 ing into a tree in spite of her earnestly repeated 

 * Kwit ! Kwiif* and her example of speeding 

 away on silent wings. 



Meanwhile, the strange bob-tailed fox came 

 under the tree and yapped and yapped at them. 



