66 The Partridge Family 



So heave ahead, my hearties, a good foot or more, 

 according to distance, for round, humming wings 

 are wondrous strong these braw, clear days. And 

 forget not the calling. Allow them a bit more 

 time than sufficed for the youngsters, and they 

 will respond, as in salad days. 



Is the air deathly still and gray with the com- 

 ing snow .'' Then your work is cut out for you. 

 They know, as do all wild things, when the white 

 wolf of the North is running a trail to the south- 

 ward. Though they be of that season's hatch, 

 they instinctively feel the coming change, and 

 they huddle close where the strange, cold, white 

 feathers shall not touch them. Then the dog of 

 the magic nose and the developed brain is the 

 chap to find them. There will be practically no 

 foot-scent. He must catch it in the air and draw 

 straight and truly ; so when you see his grand 

 head rising higher and higher, and the sensitive 

 nose apparently reaching and feeling for some- 

 thing, clear for action, there will be music in a 

 minute. 



After the snow has come the cover appears to 

 open and dwindle like magic. One can see 

 almost anywhere, and the problem is now sim- 

 plified to a straight argument of skill versus 

 speed. The birds now hang about thickets, 

 brush heaps, and what rank weeds may be left 

 standing, and they are apt to cling to the rail- 



