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Bird - Lore 



Only once did she deign to take a few kernels of corn into her mouth. By 

 much coaxing, he finally succeeded in touching the bird. After that the 

 Grouse showed very little fear. When Mr. Rand called "Chickee," 

 "Chickee," the bird would come out of the woods and sit upon his knee. 

 From his knee she would fly to his shoulder, and then to the ground. 



The bird would repeat this perform- 

 ance a half dozen times, clucking 

 contentedly the while. 



One day Mr. Rand brought the 

 Grouse to my home, a distance of 

 three miles, to have photographs 

 taken of it. To make sure she 

 would not get away, he attached a 

 long cord to the bird's leg; which 

 precaution, however, was not neces- 

 sary, as the Grouse showed little 

 fear among strangers. The accom- 

 panying picture shows the Grouse 

 resting confidingly in his hands. 

 Our bird upon this day made many 

 new acquaintances, for every one 

 was interested and wished to expe- 

 rience the novelty of holding a live 

 Ruffed Grouse, a bird so proverbially 

 shy and wild, in his hand. At least 

 thirty people handled the Grouse 

 before the farmer returned the bird 

 to her native home in the woods. 



A week or so afterwards, my 

 brother and I, accompanied by Mr. 

 Rand, visited the haunts of the 

 Grouse for the purpose of taking 

 photographs of the bird in her native 

 habitat. Mr. Rand said at this time 

 that he had not seen the bird since 

 he had taken her to the village; so 

 we were anxious to learn how such familiar treatment had affected her. Mr. 

 Rand called "Chickee," "Chickee," but no answering ''Quit," "Quit," 

 came from the woods, as heretofore at his call. Then we made a systematic 

 search of the woods, each one calling, "Chickee," "Chickee," but of no 

 avail. We searched again and continued to search and call for over an hour, 

 but no Grouse made her appearance. Surely, the bird must have resented 

 the familiar treatment in her journey to the village and have gone to join the 



A RUFFED GROUSE AND HER PROTECTOR 



