Ruffed Grouse. 237 



are nearly full-grown, when he joins the family, and dwells 

 with it until spring. The period of incubation ranges from 

 nineteen to twenty days. 



When first hatched the young follow the mother, and soon 

 learn to comprehend her clucking call, as well as to act 

 responsively thereto. Few mothers are more devoted to 

 their children, and it is rare to find one more courageous and 

 wily in their defence. Let the family be surprised by friend 

 or foe, a single note of alarm is all that is necessary to cause 

 the brood to scatter, and with the most clever adroitness to 

 hide themselves beneath a bunch of leaves or grass. So 

 successfully is the concealment accomplished, that a careful 

 and protracted search is often necessary to discover their 

 whereabouts. Often, when squatting by the roadside with 

 her brood, the parent is taken unawares. This is the trial 

 which she of all others seems to dread. To save her little 

 ones she perils her own life by venturing upon an assault. 

 Her first impulse is to fly at the face of the intruder, but 

 sober thought comes to her rescue and teaches her the folly 

 of such a course. She yields to the thought and the very 

 next moment we find her tumbling over and over upon the 

 ground, apparently in the deepest distress, but soon to 

 recover her self-possession in time to cany out the final piece 

 upon the programme, a ruse in which lameness is imitated 

 with wonderful ingenuity. While the mother is thus agi- 

 tated, the birdlings are seen to scamper in every direction to 

 places of shelter. Having accomplished her part, the happy 

 mother now flies away, and by her well-known cluck soon 

 gathers her brood together. The cry of the young is a 

 simple peet, which is heard repeatedly during feeding, but 

 only occasionally while nestling. Their food consists of the 

 seeds of various plants and berries. While able to search for 

 their own food, they derive, however, considerable assistance 

 from the mother. 



Such cunning, wee creatures, when first they leave the 

 egg, can only be compared with the young of the domestic 



