SONGLESS BIRDS OF ORCHARD AND WOODLAND. 269 
gang of men were cutting underbrush, while a Partridge 
sitting there remained quietly on her nest as the men worked 
noisily all about her. Another bird that nested beside a 
woods road, along which I walked daily, at first would fly 
before I had come within a rod of her; but later she became 
confiding enough to sit on her nest while six persons passed 
close beside her. Evidently the bird’s facility in concealing 
her nest consists in sitting close and keeping her eggs well 
covered. Her apparent faith in her invisibility is overcome 
only by her fear of man or her dread of the fox. When the 
fox is seen approaching directly toward her she bristles up 
and flies at him, in the attempt to frighten him with the 
sudden roar of her wings and the impetuosity of her attack ; 
but Reynard, although at first taken aback, cannot always 
be deceived by such tricks ; and the poor bird, in her anxiety 
to defend her nest, only betrays its whereabouts. Probably, 
however, the fox rarely finds her nest unless -he happens to 
blunder directly into it. 
Dr. C. F. Hodge made some interesting experiments with 
two trained bird dogs, a pointer and’ a setter, neither of 
which could find a Partridge as she sat quietly on her nest. 
The theory often used to explain this is, that the bird, being 
frightened, sits with her feathers drawn close to her body, 
and so “holds her scent.” This is a matter, however, that 
should be investigated with scientific accuracy ; for, in spite 
of all theories, the manner in which the bird escapes dis- 
covery still remains a mystery. The protection, whatever 
it is, is not always infallible, for occasionally a fox or dog 
discovers the sitting bird apparently by scent. Mr. William 
Brewster tells me that one of his dogs once found a Wood- 
cock on her nest. All the young Grouse in a nest hatch at 
nearly the same instant, their feathers dry very rapidly, and 
they are soon ready to run about. When able to travel, 
they leave the nest, and from that moment they become wan- 
derers on the face of the earth. It is often asserted that the 
Partridge leads her brood about after the manner of a Hen 
with her Chickens. This may be true in some cases; but 
I think the young birds usually scatter and forage mainly 
for themselves. They run about, stealing noiselessly along 
