9 
that this is done only while the young are too small to roost and need 
the shelter of the mother. 
On June 29 a bevy of heath hens was found. The mother bird took 
flight, cackling, and flew some fifty feet or so. The young scudded in 
every direction, and were entirely out of sight by the time I reached 
the spot. I hunted around through the leaves some, but fearing that 
I might accidentally step on one, did not search very carefully and 
so did not see any. Two days later what I think must have been the 
same bevy was again seen, but about half a mile from the place where 
they were first seen. This time they were in a more or less cleared 
space, and six of the young were counted. One or two squatted just 
where they were, and it looked as if one might go right up to them 
and pick them up. I did not, however, disturb them. These birds were 
apparently not over a week old. 
On July 2 a mother heath hen and four young were seen dusting 
in a road about 11 a.m. Upon seeing me the mother ran to the bushes 
and called to the young. As I went by I could hear the mother hen 
at the side of the road in the bushes. The same day, in the afternoon, 
a mother hen and one young bird was seen. 
On July 7, while walking through the brush near the Cromwell 
cottage, soon after sundown, I heard some peeping ahead. Getting 
on my hands and knees I crawled toward the sound. The peeping 
continued as I approached, so I knew that I had not been perceived. 
Finally, at a distance of some twenty or twenty-five feet, I saw a 
mother hen, with wings spread, under the thick foliage of a stunted 
oak. She was more or less silent, only occasionally uttering a low call, 
somewhat resembling that of a hen as she calls her chicks at night under 
her wings. The young, however, peeped quite often as they stole 
in and out from under the wings of the mother. I think they could 
not have been much more than a day or two old. Like the chicks of 
other fowls they could not seem to get settled for the night, but would 
stray in and out. Then as they sought a place of shelter again they 
would shove one of their fellows out from under the mother’s wing. 
However, as darkness grew the restlessness ceased, and by the time it 
was too dark to see the group everything was silent. How many there 
were in the bevy I could not tell, but it seemed as if there must have 
been at least six or eight. 
According to our observations during the past two years, the 
birds congregate during the winter in large flocks at points 
where food is abundant. They readily find grain placed for 
their benefit, and return to those places with considerable regu- 
larity each morning and evening. On two occasions we have 
been able to count two of the largest flocks in such a way as to 
be reasonably certain that no bird was counted twice. On 
