Concord, Mass.
1900.
August 16 
(No 2)  
  In the afternoon I drove to the farm and
walked back through the woods. At Pulpit Rock where
I spent nearly an hour setting out some plants I saw
a large winged flock of Warblers which were moving slowly
through the tree tops making a continuous chirping. Not 
having my glass I was unable to identify any of them
except a Creeper, a Red-eye and several Chickadees. 
Pulpit Rock 
woods.
Large mixed
flock.
  In the woods behind Bensen's at the western end
of Davis's Swamp I had an interesting and for this
region novel experience with a brood of Partridges. There
were five young nearly full grown and their mother.
I came suddenly upon them at a place where the
ground was heavily shaded by large oaks & pines and
almost wholly free from underbrush or lowly vegetation of
any kind. To my surprise not one of them attempted
to fly nor did they show much fear of me at first
but merely walked slowly on ahead of me scarce 15 yards
in advance erecting and spreading their tails & uttering low
lisping calls. Sometimes they scattered about but most
of the time they kept well together & more than once
I could have killed two or three of them at one shot.
I followed them for upwards of 100 yards when they
emerged from the old woods & entered a thicket
of young pines where the ground was smooth &
carpeted with bright green moss. Here they increased
their pace & I mine until I had to run to keep
them in sight. Finally they outran me & disappeared
without flying. The sun was shining brightly at the
time but the ground and foliage were very wet & perhaps 
the birds' feathers were also. The old hen whirred a little
but did not otherwise show any uneasiness.
Unusual behavior of
a brood of 
Partridges. 
63