104 NOTES ON NEW ENGLAND BIRDS 



opposite Fair Haven Hill, which at first I mistook for 

 the top of a fence-post above the snow, amid some al- 

 ders. I shouted and waved my hand four rods off, to 

 see if it was one, but there was no motion, and I thought 

 surely it must be a post. Nevertheless I resolved to in- 

 vestigate. Within three rods, I saw it to be indeed a 

 partridge, to my surprise, standing perfectly still, with 

 its head erect and neck stretched upward. It was as 

 complete a deception as if it had designedly placed 

 itself on the line of the fence and in the proper place 

 for a post. It finally stepped off daintily with a teeter- 

 ing gait and head up, and took to wing. 



May 2&, 1856. [Humphrey Buttrick] 1 has known a 

 partridge to fly at once from one to two miles after 

 being wounded (tracked them by the blood) without 

 alighting. Says he has caught as many as a dozen par- 

 tridges in his hands. He lies right down on them, or 

 where he knows them to be, then passes his hands back 

 and forth under his body till he feels them. You must 

 not lift your body at all or they will surely squeeze 

 out, and when you feel one must be sure you get hold 

 of their legs or head, and not feathers merely. 2 



June 11, 1856. A partridge with young in the Saw 

 Mill Brook path. Could hardly tell what kind of crea- 

 ture it was at first, it made such a noise and fluttering 

 amid the weeds and bushes. Finally ran off with its 

 body flat and wings somewhat spread. 



March 8, 1857. A partridge goes off from amid the 

 pitch pines. It lifts each wing so high above its back 



1 [A Concord man.] 



2 [These must have been young partridges, of course.] 



