THE RUFFED GROUSE 21 
twenty-two to twenty-seven ounces. The heav- 
iest bird of my own killing pulled the scales 
down to twenty-eight ounces, and this with an 
empty crop. The largest ‘‘partridge’’ that I 
ever saw weighed made a record of twenty- 
nine and one-half ounces. I am well aware that 
““competent judges’’ will ‘‘estimate’’ and fur- 
nish much more imposing figures, but I have 
noticed that these do not always tally with the 
seales. 
During our driving New England snow- 
storms partridges will sometimes take refuge 
from the cutting blasts or for a night’s shelter 
from the cold by plunging from the wing into 
the heaped-up drifts, thence to emerge when 
the storm has passed. It is said that they are 
at times closed in by an icy sleet following upon 
the snow and making a crust through which 
they cannot break. In such cases the unfortu- 
nate prisoners are apt to furnish an unexpected 
feast to some prowling fox whose famine-sharp- 
ened nose has traced them out. This may cause 
more destruction than is realized, but the dan- 
ger is probably more theoretical than actual. 
There is usually small need to burrow at all in 
this latitude; furthermore, do you not think 
