Redmff 



he was told, developed before the Acorn Moon 

 had changed, into all the glory of a gold and 

 copper ruff — for this was Red ruff, the famous 

 partridge of the Don Valley. 



IV 



One day late in the Acorn Moon, that is, 

 about mid-October, as the grouse family were 

 basking with full crops near a great pine log on 

 the sunlit edge of the beaver-meadow, they 

 heard the far-away bang of a gun, and Redruff, 

 acting on some impulse from within, leaped 

 on the log, strutted up and down a couple of 

 times, then, yielding to the elation of the 

 bright, clear, bracing air, he whirred his wings 

 in loud defiance. Then, giving fuller vent to 

 this expression of vigor, just as a colt frisks to 

 show how well he feels, he whirred yet more 

 loudly, until, unwittingly, he found himself 

 drumming, and tickled with the discovery of his 

 new power, thumped the air again and again till 

 he filled the near woods with the loud tattoo of 

 the fully grown cock-partridge. His brother 

 and sister heard and looked on with admiration 



