i 3 o ADVENTURES AMONG BIRDS 



end of May when many hens are incubating — I 

 stumble on a dozen nests a day — he is wooing and 

 fighting all the time, and the fights are not mere 

 shows like those of the ruff, a pretty little feathered 

 French duellist, and other quarrelsome species that 

 fight often without hurting one another. The red 

 grouse that looks like a stone hurls himself like a 

 stone against his adversary, and whether he breaks 

 bones or not he makes the polished feathers fly in 

 clouds. Yet in his wooing this stone-like bird some- 

 times attains to grace of motion. That is when, carried 

 away by his passion, he mounts into the air, and if 

 there is any wind to help him rises easily to a good 

 height and performs in descending a love flight 

 resembling that of the cushat and turtle-dove. But 

 in his vocal performances there is no grace or beauty, 

 only power. You are astonished at the sounds he 

 emits when he bursts out very suddenly rattling and 

 drumming — rrrrrr-rub-a-dub-dub ; or you may liken 

 it to a cachinnatory sound as if a gritstone rock 

 standing among the heather had suddenly burst out 

 laughing. Then he changes his tone to a more human 

 sound like a raven's croak prolonged, which breaks 

 up into shorter sounds at the end — ah-ha ! come here, 

 come back, go back, go back, quack, quack, or quick, 

 quick, which is probably what he really means. 



From the grouse and his rude noises I must now go 

 back to the delicate songsters, to give an impression 

 of the ring-ouzel; for oddly enough I had hitherto 

 had no opportunity of really watching and listening 

 to it during the breeding season. Certain birds at 



