Waterbury Democrat., 1903-02-11
THE ..PARTRIDGB' IN WINTER
The Birds Get Warier With the Falling
 of the Leaves.

t The Birds Get Warier With the Falling
 of the Leaves.
 The hunter of ruffed grouse in the woods, north, east and west, discovers that as the season advances the bird increases in intelligence and in it's abil- ity to protect itself from all foes, ami nal or human This is necessary to it, as the leaves being gone from the deciduouS trees, and so being on the ground, it has lost much of it's natural cover. A month ago in patches of the small weed which bears the black, fur " seed known as beggars' lice, it would crouch closely until the sports mans foot sounded within yard of 1t, trusting to it's hue to screen it from prying eyes. Now it will not seek this cover at all, and cannot be driven into it. The weeds still stand but under meath them the ground is white, and against this white the grouse, shows as distinctly as if it were squatted on tablecloth. If by chance it is in such cover and hears or fears the approach of any danger, it will instantly take wing or run at top speed, and its meth cd of flight will depend upon it's idea of the danger. If it believes that a fox or lynx is approaching it will fly, not caring to leave it's telltale trail on the snow; if the pursuer be man it will run.
 While the denudation of many of the trees and the thinning of the shrubs work hardship to the grouse, yet this hardship has. its compensations. The grouse can see further now, and be- cause of the stiffness of the woods when the frost has wrought siIence,'' as Keats would say-jt can hear fur ther
 Also increased experience has taught the broods of this year that nothing in all the vast forests is friendly to them, and their inherited caution has been intensified. They now take refuge in places they would not have noted ear- Her in the year.
 A man pursuing a wounded grouse without a dog will not now conclude that his prey has escaped merely be- cause the ground is empty unon which 1t was clearly seen to fall. If there be hollow tree near he will look into that first and it is not unlikely that far in the dark the bird will sit immovabIe.
 If there is no hollow log, any cllBmp of snow raised higher than the sur rounding level must be examined, for the grouse, if no chance offers. will bur row into the snow, if it is soft enough, getting clear under the surface and necessarily raising it somewhat If it can ind a small space covered only with half withered leaves it will repair to that. first dusting itself with snow more closely to match with the land scape.
 Often it will bury itself between the roots of some great tree, squeezing close to the trunk in a desperate effort to match itself with the bark and it will lie thus, speckled breast against the tree, tail pointing outward, almost until taken into the hand. Tn tho case of the male it will be found invariably that the black ruff about it's neck-a cruelty distinctive mark-wiH be against the darkest part of the bark.
 The unhurt bird will not proceed to these extremities. It is conscious of its splendid strength of wing, and is disposed to trust to that if pressed so hard that it considers flight on foot to be useless. As it can now see and hear more distinctly, it is apt to flush at greater distances, rising sometimes when the hunter is fifty yards away and only the crunch of his shoes gives warning of his approach. Often then the man does not see the bird at all: only the gutteral roar of its wings comes to him.
 He judges as best he can the direc- Ilon or it's light, and knowing the fatal fondness of the grouse for perching on trees. whence it can command a great CT view, he follows. inspecting each evergreen. He does not look in trees which have shed their leaves, as he knows it would be useless.
 The freeing grouse will manifest no preference between a pine and hem lock, but it loves the spruce, not only because of it's thick foliage, but also because in December it has become partly used to feeding upon the spruce Duds. Upon such a tree it will crouch as closely as if upon the ground, taking advantage of each green needle. snd a sharp eye is. s.needed to discover it.
 Many hunter has walked for half an hour round and round a tree in which he knew the bird had perched. and then left in disgust. unable to spot the fugitive. Most often however. The grouse will not wait so long When it finds that the man has located it's tree it will permit him to wargk once around It. then take wing. springing outward high and far and going away on a down slant with terrific speed Nearly alwavs it will snring when the man is on the opDosite side of the tree. inst as when flushed from the ground if will swine behind a tree as soon as nossi- ble the mans only recourse being to step to the right or left as soon as it xiaas~~sNasT York SnnL