pursuers. It is alert. It is
solitary. Its protective
coloration is well nigh perfection. Its flight is swift;
and when flushed from cover it goes off with a startling
suddenness and whirring of wings that disconcerts the
average hunter and delays his fire until a safe escape
has been made. Moreover, the hunter, by . killing off
some of its worst enemies among the beasts of prey, has
unwittingly helped the grouse to hold its place. So it
remains with us, by virtue of its superb natural endowment,
notwithstanding it is truly a hunter’s prize. Fattenedon the
wild cereals of the woodland swales,
and flavored with the aromatic buds
of the sweet birch, there is no more
toothsome game bird in the world
than this one.
Among the curious sounds made
by male birds the calls of our native
land birds are most unique. The
ludicrous gobble of the turkey, the ——~,
thrilling whistle of the bob-white, ; ~
the muffled drumming of the ruffed FS:,55; , The, male, mudled


Fic. 54. Bob-White (after Seton).
THE FOWLS OF THE FARM 117


grouse are sounds unmatched in nature and inimitable;
so also are the antics that accompany their utterance.
