THE PINNATED GROUSE. 121 



bird to intimidate or draw off intruders is worthy of 

 notice. At first she will fly toward you as if intent 

 on doing you battle, but when this course has failed, 

 she will retire, droop her wings, struggle on the 

 ground, only just keeping beyond your grasp, always 

 moving in a direction contrary to where her brood 

 are hid, until parent instinct tells her that the chil- 

 dren are safe, when suddenly on strong wings she 

 will start for a distant flight. The facility with 

 which the young secrete themselves is most surpris- 

 ing. Frequently have I got unexpectedly into the 

 center of a family, when up they would rise like a 

 flight of bees and as rapidly drop again; certainly 

 you see the exact spot on which they have alighted 

 that tuft of grass you believe most surely con- 

 tains one, but search as you will, turn over care- 

 fully every blade, look well about the roots all is 

 useless, for no fledgeling will you tind. 



At the commencement of the pairing season, par- 

 ticularly if the weather is calm and cloudy, the male 

 birds will be heard calling all day ; their note re- 

 sembling the lowing of a cow, which can be heard 

 distinctly for over a mile. At this time fierce-look- 

 ing encounters appear to take place, but I am inclined 



to believe that their fights are all a sham, performed 

 6 



