SONGLESS BIRDS OF ORCHARD AND WOODLAND. 269 



gang of men were cutting underbrush, while a Partridge 

 sitting there remained quietly on her nest as the men worked 

 noisily all about her. Another bird that nested beside a 

 woods road, along which I walked daily, at first would fly 

 before I had come within a rod of her ; but later she became 

 confiding enough to sit on her nest while six persons passed 

 close beside her. Evidently the bird's facility in concealing 

 her nest consists in sitting close and keeping her eggs well 

 covered. Her apparent faith in her invisibility is overcome 

 only by her fear of man or her dread of the fox. When the 

 fox is seen approaching directly toward her she bristles up 

 and flies at him, in the attempt to frighten him with the 

 sudden roar of her wings and the impetuosity of her attack ; 

 but Reynard, although at first taken aback, cannot always 

 be deceived by such tricks ; and the poor bird, in her anxiety 

 to defend her nest, only betrays its whereabouts. Probably, 

 however, the fox rarely finds her nest unless he happens to 

 blunder directly into it. 



Dr. C. F. Hodge made some interesting experiments with 

 two trained bird dogs, a pointer and a setter, neither of 

 which could find a Partridge as she sat quietly on her nest. 

 The theory often used to explain this is, that the bird, being 

 frightened, sits with her feathers drawn close to her body, 

 and so "holds her scent." This is a matter, however, that 

 should be investigated with scientific accuracy ; for, in spite 

 of all theories, the manner in which the bird escapes dis- 

 covery still remains a mystery. The protection, whatever 

 it is, is not always infallible, for occasionally a fox or dog 

 discovers the sitting bird apparently by scent. Mr. William 

 Brewster tells me that one of his dogs once found a Wood- 

 cock on her nest. All the young Grouse in a nest hatch at 

 nearly the same instant, their feathers dry very rapidly, and 

 they are soon ready to run about. When able to travel, 

 they leave the nest, and from that moment they become wan- 

 derers on the face of the earth. It is often asserted that the 

 Partridge leads her brood about after the manner of a Hen 



o 



with her Chickens. This may be true in some cases ; but 

 I think the young birds usually scatter and forage mainly 

 for themselves. They run about, stealing noiselessly along 



