LITTLE BEASTS OF FIELD AND WOOD 



protecting branches, as if fully aware of his 

 danger and determined on not exposing himself 

 more than necessary, and ever and anon retreating, 

 panic-stricken, back into the shadow, to renew 

 the attack from an opposite direction, barking 

 huskily. Should you approach and flush the 

 bird in his direction, he appears to be thrown 

 into a perfect paroxysm of terror by the whir 

 and rattle of its wings, and vanishes with hysteri- 

 cal chatterings, followed by low murmuring growls 

 from his hiding-place. 



It is wholly out of the question to suppose for 

 a moment that he can have any cause for resent- 

 ment against the grouse family ; and yet, so uni- 

 versal is this habit of scolding and threatening 

 them on every occasion that I find I have gradu- 

 ally fallen into the way, when shooting grouse, 

 of allowing the squirrels to point out my game 

 for me to a certain extent, after the manner of 

 trained pointers, finding that three times out of 

 four I can tell from the way they chatter whether 



