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Bird -Lore 



through the entire neighborhood, but the 

 Grouse was a surprise; 



From my house in Waban I heard the 

 harsh cackling of the cock Pheasants daily 

 in these woods, and their dusting-places 

 were frequently seen. On the afternoon of 

 May 12 I started out to look for a Pheas- 

 ant's nest, near where the cackling seemed 

 most frequent. 



I had hardly gone 200 feet from the edge 

 of the cornfield clearing when, to my sur- 

 prise, I saw a hen Pheasant sitting among 



RUFFED GROUSE SITTING 

 Waban, Mass., May 13, 1916 



the dead oak leaves at the base of a small 

 chestnut tree. She sat very close, not leav- 

 ing her thirteen greenish tinted eggs until 

 I had crept^ up to within 6 feet of her. I 

 regret to state that she never came back 

 to the nest. The only other Pheasant's 

 nest I have found was also immediately 

 deserted, though in this case there was only 

 one egg, and we almost stepped on the 

 mother without seeing her. The nest was 

 not touched or disturbed in any way, as 



the eggs were plainly visible as soon as the 

 hen flushed. 



I considered myself in great luck to have 

 found the nest before the bird flushed from 

 it, as her protective coloration makes dis- 

 covery difficult, but even better luck was 

 in store. A few minutes later, at the base 

 of a small second-growth oak, within 

 150 feet of the Pheasant's nest, I found a 

 second nest, and, to my surprise and de- 

 light. Mother Grouse was at home. She 

 flushed when I was about 10 feet away, but 

 was back on the eggs in about an hour. 

 There were eleven eggs in this nest, quite 

 different in appearance from the Pheas- 

 ant's eggs, being smaller and buffy in 

 color. 



The next morning I returned to the 

 woods with camera, tripod, and a 15-foot 

 extension cord for releasing the shutter. 

 The Pheasant's nest was unoccupied, and 

 I snapped the eggs, then approached the 

 Grouse's nest. The mother was less timid 

 today, but I could not quite snap her 

 before she flushed. I therefore set up the 

 camera, took a couple of pictures of the 

 eggs, and left for an hour's walk by the 

 river. Returning I found Mother Partridge 

 as you see her in the picture. 



She was still sitting on May 20, when I 

 last saw her, but upon my return from a 

 brief visit to my camp in New Hampshire, 

 some broken shells showed that the young 

 had been successfully hatched. Later, a 

 friend told me that he saw a brood of 

 Ruffed Grouse, tiny downy chickens, about 

 May 30 in these same woodlands, and I 

 trust the family is still intact and will 

 increase in the neighborhood. 



The previous fall we had posted the 

 district pretty thoroughly with 'No Shoot- 

 ing' signs, and many birds had crossed 

 the river to seek sanctuary from the gun- 

 ners. The river being in the Metropolitan 

 Park, is a bird reservation, and is re- 

 sorted to yearly by American Mergansers, 

 Golden-eyes, and, occasionally. Wood 

 Duck, Black Duck, and Teal. — John B. 

 May, M.D., 'Winnetaska,' Ashland, N. H. 



