"THE PARTRIDGES" OF MUSKOKA 221 



last under the leadership of one of their own 

 number more bold or cunning than the others." 

 I have observed a hundred times the scattering of 

 a flock of ruffed grouse, but I cannot recall any 

 instance when the birds followed any particular 

 leader. They dispersed in confusion, some 

 winging their flight to a distant tree, while others 

 ran swiftly and blindly in any direction where 

 a hiding could be found, until the danger was 

 past. 



I have often listened to the "roll call," but 

 this sound was uttered continuously by the 

 anxious mother to warn her chicks, or gather 

 them to the shelter of her warm feathers. The 

 drumming of the cock I have already described 

 as a means of communicating to the hen his 

 whereabouts, but the leadership and general 

 management of a mixed covey are to my mind 

 both original and new. I shall probably take 

 an early opportunity of studying this matter and 

 examining its foundation. I have watched these 

 birds for hours in their native haunts, and with 

 a knowledge of still-hunting and stalking which 

 one never forgets, I look forward with pleasure 

 to verify Mr. Long's wonderful conclusions. 

 These conclusions have been arrived at from 



