116 NATURAL HISTORY OF THE FARM 
trophies to the hunter; or 
those, like the bob-white, 
that were social in habits; or 
those, like the prairie hen, 
that flew in the open and 
could be followed by the eye 
i; to cover. Our woods-loving 
+, ruffed grouse has fared a 
““S) little better. Wherever suffi- 
~ cient forest cover remains, 
it has been able to maintain 
ae itself in spite of well-armed 
a pursuers. It is alert. It is 
Fic. 54. Bob-white (after Seton). solitary. Its protective 
coloration is well nigh perfection. Its flight is swift; 
and when flushed from cover, it goes off with a startling 
suddenness and whirring of wings that disconcerts the 
average hunter and delays his fire until a safe escape 
has been made. Moreover, the hunter, by killing off 
some of its worst enemies among the beasts of prey, has 
unwittingly helped the grouse to hold its place. So it 
remains with us, by virtue of its superb natural endowment, 
notwithstanding it is truly a hunter’s prize. Fattenedon the 
wild cereals of the woodland swales, 
and flavored with the aromatic buds 
of the sweet birch, there is no more 
toothsome game bird in the world 
than this one. 
Among the curious sounds made 
by male birds, the calls of our native 
land birds are most unique. The 
ludicrous gobble of the turkey, the 
thrilling whistle of the bob-white, 
the muffled drumming of the ruffed "0:,35, The male ruffed 
