THE RUFFED GEOUSE. 391 



his wings against his sides and the log with considerable 

 force. This produces a hollow drumming noise, that may 

 he heard to a considerable distance: it commences very 

 slowly, and, after a few strokes, gradually increases in 

 velocity, and terminates with a rolling beat very similar to 

 the roll of a drum. 



I know not by what law of acoustics, but this drumming 

 is peculiar in sounding equally as loud at a considerable 

 distance off, as within a few rods. I have searched for the 

 bird when I have heard the drumming, and, while supposing 

 him to be at a considerable distance, have flushed him within 

 the distance of fifty feet, and vice versa. 



The young birds, like those of all our G-allince, follow 

 their mother almost as soon as they are hatched. I have 

 often found these broods in the woods, and can com- 

 pare them to nothing so much as the chicks of domestic 

 poultry. 



The female, when her family is surprised, quickly gives a 

 warning cluck, when the whole brood adroitly conceal them- 

 selves. I have known a number to disappear, as if by 

 magic, beneath a bunch of leaves or grass ; and it required 

 a long, careful search to discover their whereabouts. 



I once came suddenly upon a covey of these young birds, 

 when the mother, taken by surprise, uttering a harsh cry, 

 flew at my foot, and commenced pecking it fiercely : the 

 young scrambled off, uttering faint peets, when the old bird, 

 perhaps astonished at this departure from her usual mod- 

 esty, suddenly retreated, and concealed herself. The young 

 birds associate with the female until scattered by sportsmen 

 or by a scarcity of provender. They are much more deli- 

 cate as focfd, when about two-thirds grown, than the old 

 birds, as they have less of that peculiar bitter taste, and 

 have a rich flavor, almost similar to that of the Woodcock. 



The food of this species consists of various seeds, berries, 

 grapes, and insects. "When nothing else can be obtained, 

 *:hey will eat the leaves of the evergreens, and buds of 



