THE LOVELORN GOBBLER 207 



false move. All at once he stops and everything 

 is still again. Maybe another hen has come 

 to his court, maybe not. But do not yelp or 

 cluck; he may be coming to you, for he knows 

 precisely where you are, and if he is not caress- 

 ing another hen he is surely approaching you. 

 This may take fully an hour, sometimes six. 



"Cluck, put, put, " there stands a young gob- 

 bler Yv'ithin twenty paces to the left: he has ap- 

 proached from the rear. Make no motion. He 

 has not identified you. "Put, put." Keep still. 

 "Put, o-r-r-r-r." He begins to step high, turn- 

 ing to one side, then to the other. " C-r-r-r-r" 

 He pulls out the tip of one wing and places it 

 on the other. Note that. He is going to walk 

 away. "Put, c-r-r-r-r." He is gone; but let 

 him go, and good riddance, for he has created a 

 distrust in the old gobbler's mind that will take 

 some time to remove. You are now compelled 

 to change your place and call again. " Gil- 

 obble-obble-obble." Gracious! he is off to the 

 right and fifty yards nearer. If there is suffi- 

 cient cover, make a detour of from one hundred 

 and fifty to two hundred yards and get ahead 



