90 EVERYDAY ADVENTURES 



close to me on the bare path, they had absolutely 

 disappeared. It seemed impossible that in a few sec- 

 onds they could have gained the shelter of the woods 

 or could have found cover in the scanty grass and 

 scattered leaves close at hand. Not one could I find 

 although I searched and searched. When I turned 

 back the mother grouse was gone also, although I 

 could hear her whining through the bushes. 



Years later, again at the edge of the woods, one 

 day early in June, I came upon another mother 

 grouse leading a covey of little chicks, evidently 

 just hatched, in single file out from the woods into 

 the open, probably to catch grasshoppers. She went 

 through the same performance as the first one, but 

 this time I selected the two nearest chicks, which 

 stood directly in front of me, and resolved that noth- 

 ing would make me take my eyes away from them. 

 Even as I watched, they melted away into the grass. 

 One I found lying motionless on its side under a big 

 brown leaf, looking exactly like its covering. The 

 other I never did find. At first the leaf-hidden 

 partridge refused to move even when I touched it, 

 until I picked it up. Then it gave a shrill peep 

 almost like a little chicken. Instantly the poor 

 mother bird rushed up to my very feet and dashed 

 her wings frantically against my legs, jumping up 

 from the ground and whining so piteously that, 

 after I had stroked her fuzzy, soft little chick, I put 

 it back on the ground without any further examina- 

 tion. At once it disappeared, and the mother bird, 

 still whining, also sidled away into the woods. 



