BIRDS OF PEASEMARSH 



suer. If he could disappear for a little while 

 he would soon hear her clucking to her babies 

 to bring them out from the dried leaves and 

 ferns where they had hidden. It has been said 

 of young Partridge and young Quail, that they 

 can disappear from your sight while you are 

 looking at them, without your having the 

 slightest idea where they have gone. They 

 seem to know just where they can dip down 

 among the vegetation and match it so perfectly 

 that they cannot be distinguished. 



Like the Quail they are home birds. In 

 winter when the snow is deep they burrow 

 down and find shelter under it, where they 

 spend the nights. They are sometimes caught 

 by foxes as they leave this snowy shelter, for 

 these sly animals will follow any track that 

 they make when going in and out. And often 

 in the late, dusky afternoon, when returning to 

 these shelters, they fall a prey to the Great 

 Grey Owl or the Horned Owl. 



At times when the snow is very deep it is 

 difficult for them to get food. Sheaves of wheat 

 or oats tied to the tree trunks, ears down, and 

 just above the snow, is one way of supplying 

 them with food. 



[119] 



