226 AMERICAN GAME BIRD SHOOTING 



twenty feet of where I had been watching. The bird 

 had been within sight all the while, but probably had 

 crouched in the leaves and remained invisible. It 

 would have been interesting to note how much longer 

 the bird would have stayed in this position without 

 moving. Another bird was started some fifty feet 

 from this one. 



"On this same day the toots of one or more heath 

 hens were heard between half-past four and five A.M. 

 The birds are early risers and late bed-goers. Once 

 they were heard to toot at 3 130 A.M., or about an hour 

 before sunrise; and several times their call note was 

 heard as early as this. It is probable, though, that 

 they do not begin to stir quite so early, beginning their 

 breakfasting about sunrise or a little earlier. The mid- 

 dle of the day is generally spent in the shade, or in dust- 

 ing in the sun in the roads. Late in the afternoon, as 

 the air begins to cool, they take to feeding again, and 

 can be seen in the open fields. They will often feed 

 till nearly an hour after sundown. I do not know 

 whether they roost in the low shrubbery or on the 

 ground at night. Mother birds with young, however, 

 stay on the ground, but it is likely that this is done 

 only while the young are too small to roost and need 

 the shelter of the mother. 



"On June 29 a bevy of heath hens was found. The 

 mother bird took flight, cackling, and flew some fifty 

 feet or so. The young scudded in every direction, and 

 were entirely out of sight by the time I reached the 

 spot. I hunted around through the leaves some, but 



