How does Lurking Familiar work?

[The Viscount]

Lurking familiar has the following text:


If your familiar occupies your square, it gains cover against all attacks. As a consequence, it can make a Hide check to avoid your foe's notice. If your familiar then leaves your space to attack an opponent, it gains the normal benefit for attacking from a hidden position.

I have two questions about it.

1. The text seems to be suggesting that your familiar will be hiding in combat. However, this feat does not mention anything about being observed. Are we to take it that this grants our familiar HiPS when in our square as well, or did the writers just forget hiding has 2 requirements?

2. What is the normal benefit for attacking from a hidden position? Do they just mean the benefits of attacking while hiding (enemy is flatfooted)? Are they talking about the "Sneak up from Hiding" rules as found in RC page 92? A third thing?

[BowStreetRunner]

The spell gives the familiar cover that can be used to hide, but doesn't help it to hide if it is currently being observed. If the familiar's normal place is hiding inside your robes then it would already be lurking there when an enemy is encountered. But if it waits until combat to try to hide, it will need to find a moment when it is not being observed or have the Hide in Plain Sight ability from another source. Without HiPS this is more or less a once per combat trick. With HiPS it can use the trick over and over again.