On Getting Acquainted 



theoretically. Near our towns the partridge (ruffed 

 grouse) is very wild, taking wing at your approach; 

 but in the deep woods he is almost fearless. Even 

 when you stumble into a flock of the birds, fright- 

 ening them out of their calm, they are apt to 

 flit into the trees and remain absolutely motion- 

 less. They are then hard to find, so well do they 

 blend with their background ; and if they are young 

 birds, they will hold still after you discover them. 

 Since they were helpless chicks they have trusted 

 to quietness to conceal them; it serves them very 

 well, much better than running away from stronger 

 enemies; and the habit is strong upon them, as 

 upon young ducks and other game-birds before 

 they have learned to trust their wings. But when 

 you stumble upon an old cock-grouse you meet a 

 bird that has added experience to instinct, and 

 that knows when to move as well as when to sit 

 still. He dodges out of sight as you raise your 

 rifle ; as you follow him he bursts away on whirring 

 wings and slants up into a tree in a distant part 

 of the wood. Marking where he lights, you try 

 to find him, cat-footing around his perch, peering 

 into every tree-top, putting a "crik" in the back 

 of your neck. For a half-hour, it may be, you 

 search for him in vain; suddenly there he is, and 

 b'r-r-r-r! he is gone. The odd thing is that he 

 sits still so long as you cannot find him; not a 



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