176 
THE CONDOR 
Vol. XVII 
quietly down the potato patch toward the woods in which I supposed the old 
grouse was hiding. Near the foot of the patch, on a mowed strip between it and 
the woods, to my surprise a pointed head, and long neck, and then a mottled 
body appeared. Had the old grouse seen the retreating farmer and failing to 
discriminate between one and two, inferred that the coast was clear and come out 
of the woods to gather her brood? On discovering me she made a curved flight, 
with pointed tail showing, swinging around me into the woods to which she was 
followed by one of her young. After an interval during which I sat silently in 
the shadow of the woods the old grouse flew back across the width of the field to 
the place from which we had first flushed her and where she had probably been 
engaged in the useful occupation of eating potato-bugs. 
The young were calling in the woods behind me, and before long, bursting 
out over my head, a little yellowish brown form crossed over to the potato patch 
in the direction the mother had taken. But its short wings were unequal to her 
long flight and it soon soared down, though after a rest it again started in her 
direction. A second young one essayed to follow, but too timid, circled back to 
cover once more. Small voices came from the woods behind and on both sides of 
me growing closer till a soft little whistle — whee-aye-ee — made me look down. 
About a yard away, on the edge of the broken ground stood a yellowish nestling 
streaked and spotted with black and white, wisps of down blowing about its head 
and body. Stretching its long neck till it looked as if on tip-toe it gazed in the 
direction its mother and brother had taken. Its hit of a tail jerked as it whistled, 
its bill opening for the first syllable — whee — and staying open for the aye-ee. 
Three more young flew out of the woods while I waited, hut dropped into 
the corn field beside the potato patch. One of them ran timorously up between 
two rows, squatting down under some friendly corn blades ; but the cover 
was so thin that the little fellow’s dark neck line showed. Kingbirds, gulls, a 
Sparrow Hawk, and a Marsh Hawk flew over. A Richardson ground squirrel 
that ventured out wisely scooted across the field and then sat up picket-pin 
style looking for danger. No one knew who might come next. So the well- 
trained little grouse lay close. 
Other families of young were soon abroad in the land. When driving 
between Red Willow and Devil ’s Lake on July 8 and 9, we scared up a number 
of quarter-grown broods, pretty little striped stubby-tailed chicks. Sometimes 
the mother hurst out of cover, ostentatiously soaring off in the opposite direc- 
tion from her young ; once she ran enticingly along the road ahead of us, and 
once walked slowly and deliberately over the winrow^s of hay by the road, her 
sharp tail pointed up, wdiile at least eleven young scattered out in different 
directions. 
Another day not far from Red Willow Lake, Mr. Bailey in driving over the 
prairie came onto an old grouse with a large family of little chicks. While the 
chicks with a scurry melted into the grass, the old grouse began a painful flut- 
tering and flopping and tumbling on the ground just in front of the horses. 
The shepherd dog at the rear of the wagon bolted past the brood and thought, 
that, he almost, caught the old bird who flopped and sputtered just beyond his 
nose till he was well in for the chase, wben she led him on to the top of the 
farthest ridge, nearly a mile away. She then soared off in a wide circle and 
later, as the dog, panting and exhausted, caught up with the wagon a quarter 
of a mile from where he had started, the old grouse circled back to her hiding 
brood. 
Tn summer the grouse have abundant food, and in winter they are said to 
