:')-2S LIFE-HISTORIES OF BIRDS 



portance. But let a man or dog appear, the summons 

 tor dispersal is immediately sounded by the old cock, and 

 the birds scatter in every direction ; sometimes taking to 

 wing, but generally relying upon their Heetness of foot to 

 carry them beyond the reach of danger. Experience has 

 doubtless taught them the policy of terrestrial progression, 

 which in their native haunts of scrub-oak and underbrush, 

 and in fields of dense, rank grasses, most effectually shields 

 them from the hunter's gun. When in close proximity to 

 a neighboring pine-forest, main se^k safety amid its 

 sheltering boughs and dense evergreen foliage. Others, 

 again, seek an old stubble-field close-by, and their color 

 harmonizing so well with that of the mould and decayed' 

 vegetable matter, they escape detection. 



Many a disappointed person, after returning home at the 

 close of the day with no large game as the result of his ad- 

 ventures, explains his ill-luck by the oft-cited theory that 

 these birds have a wonderful power of retaining their scent. 

 This theory has frequently crept into books, and even in the 

 present enlightened era, finds many an advocate. It is true 

 that birds when closely pressed will drop suddenly to the 

 ground and remain perfectly motionless, or cover themselves 

 by a leaf or whatever else is near at hand, and are thus unper- 

 ceived by the dog. In such cases, they may be said to retain 

 their scent ; but, when they move, even to a very short dis- 

 tance, the effluvium escapes and soon disseminates itself. In 

 moist situations, these birds are more easily followed than in 

 those that are dry ; consequently, high grounds where the soil 

 is parched by the intense sunlight, are better places of secur- 

 ity : for the great heat which emanates therefrom, soon dis- 

 sipates the scent which is left by their retreating foot-steps. 

 Birds are often scented for a short distance, while passing 

 through the atmosphere at a low elevation, but the air is 

 less retentive than even the dry ground. In the fall, when 

 the ground is frost-bound, they are more easily scented than 

 at almost any other period. It has been erroneously supposed 



