Biography 29 



play" and apparently, insofar as the male is concerned, has little 

 relation to mating. If the intruding bird had been anotlier male, the 

 same events would have taken place except that a fight might v^ell 

 have ensued. In this case the winner would remain in the territory 

 and the loser would seek another location at some distance. 



Both the drumming and intimidation display performances are 

 acquired by instinct. The drumming takes a little time and practice 

 to attain proficiency— the wings make only a swisliing noise until the 

 bird learns to make the drum sound, but it needs no guidance to 

 know what to do. Allen ( 1934) had a captivity raised male learn to 

 drum, never having seen or heard another grouse. 



The hissing performance is a fascinating display. The whole action 

 takes almost fifty seconds, the first thirty seconds being devoted to 

 the slow, evenly timed double-hisses, about a second or slightly less 

 apart; then about the same number of hisses again, thirty to forty, 

 in fifteen seconds at a rapidly increasing tempo, and finally about 

 twenty or more hisses at top speed for about five seconds culminating 

 in the last hiss and run act. In all, the bird makes about ninety 

 double-hisses in each display, with the beak held wider and wider 

 open as it progresses, and the final long hiss is emitted with the beak 

 nearly closed. 



The Mating. Each day thereafter, the cock bird could be heard 

 drumming on his log near the edge of the little slashing. From before 

 dawn till after sun-up he was most ambitious, dmmming every few 

 minutes. Then he would slacken ojff and little would be heard from 

 him until along toward nightfall. In other directions, but farther 

 away, the hen bird could hear other grouse drumming too— inviting 

 any and all grouse to combat, as she learned to her sorrow. She 

 wanted to seek them out too, but her first experience had taught her 

 the wisdom of caution. After a few days had passed, she could no 

 longer control her emotions; so off she went to meet her adversary 

 once more. Again, as he discovered her presence, he ceased his 

 drumming, paused for a brief moment, then slowly descended from 

 his log. This time his tail was held low and compact, all the feathers 

 were depressed, and the look in his eye was one of appealing gentle- 

 ness, not of fiery defiance. He walked toward her slowly, in a some- 

 what circuitous route, shaking his head a little, pecking at a leaf now 

 and then. 



