70 
as lie would thrust his muzzle into the grass, then dance 
around as if "watching some moving object in the grass, make 
a grab, then move along, all the time coming nearer to my 
position, which was hidden from him so long as I remained 
motionless. Suddenly, when the fox was within five or six 
rods of me, a big ball of feathers flew out of the scrub at him 
and drove him some distance into the grass land. I imme- 
diately sized the situation up. A partridge (ruffed grouse) 
was warning Mr. Fox that she had claims to that particular 
tract of land that he would be required to respect. But Mr. 
Fox was evidently hungry, so he followed the brave little 
mother back to her nest beside a stump on the edge of the 
scrub. Although the bird made one or more rushes, they 
were of no avail, and, although I did not at first intend to 
harm the fox, as at that time of year he would be of no use 
to me dead, I regarded it, in the light of recent developments, 
to be a case for armed intervention, so I put a bullet where 
it would do the most good, and he died within his length of 
the nest, with his mouth and throat filled with egg contents.” 
Probably foxes kill some of the smaller birds that are 
learning to fly, catching them as cats do. Of this habit Mr. 
F. H. Mosher says : “ I have seen but one instance of the fox 
catching a bird, and that was several years ago. I was stand- 
ing on a rise of ground that overlooked a wet meadow. A 
fox came out of the woods and appeared to be hunting for 
mice in the grass. As he came opposite a small clump of 
bushes, a small bird flew out and started for the woods. The 
fox ran a few steps after it and gave a tremendous spring, 
and caught it on the wing. Probably it was a young bird.” 
If foxes quarter over the ground in summer, as they cer- 
tainly do in winter, it would seem impossible for any nest 
on the ground to escape their notice, unless, indeed, they 
are unable to smell the sitting bird. Prof. C. F. Hodge told 
me in 1903 that he had found by experiment that trained 
pointer and setter dogs were unable to find a ruffed grouse 
sitting on her nest, even when, in one case, the bird had left 
her nest and walked about a short time previously. This 
seems to indicate that these birds leave no scent during in- 
cubation ; but Mr. Brewster informs me that his dog on more 
