158 OUR WINTER BIRDS 



although we know the whole family of ten or a 

 dozen Is within a few feet of us, most of them will 

 remain invisible and not one will move. 



At the first sign of danger the mother called to 

 them something in the Grouse language which means 

 "scatter and squat." Disobedience with the young 

 of all wild creatures often means death. Obedience 

 is, therefore, instinctive, and these little Grouse were 

 now waiting for the soft cluck which would tell them 

 the danger was past, when each one would spring into 

 life and seek the sheltering wings of its parent. 



