BIRDS OF AMERICA 



trodden forests of British Columbia I found it 

 similarly unsuspicious. The young when reared 

 artificially from the egg are so tame that they 

 are in danger of being trodden underfoot. For- 

 tunately the bird has so capable a brain that a 

 brief experience with the " man behind the gun " 

 serves to " educate " it and if it survives its first 

 few experiences with flying shot it becomes quite 

 another bird. 



It is only the solitary woodsman that is 

 likely to observe the habits of the Ruffed Grouse. 

 He who has learned the art of sitting quietly 



tality of the male. It serves the first purpose 

 admirably, as probably all the females within 

 hearing come to the sound if they hear no other 

 drummer, for the Ruffed Grouse is a polygamist 

 and has been observed to mate with two or more 

 females within a few minutes. The second pur- 

 pose is served when one drummer approaches 

 another's station, for then a fight is likely to 

 ensue until one or the other is whipped and 

 driven away. The third purpose apparently is 

 the only one served in the autumn, when the 

 mating season is over and when the birds drum 



Drawing by R. I. Brasher 



R0FFED GROUSE (J nat. size) 

 Its experience with man has taught it to be suspicious and shy 



on a log or waiting patiently in the cover of the 

 thickets may gradually come to know many of its 

 ways. Its drumming is one of the commonest 

 sounds of the woods. Under favorable circum- 

 stances the sound will carry a mile. Yet many 

 have never been conscious of hearing it, few have 

 ever actually seen the performance, and to this 

 day those who have watched the birds drum in 

 confinement are in dispute as to whether the 

 sound is made by the wings striking the air or 

 the feathers of the breast. The sound serves 

 three purposes : first, as a call to the female, 

 second, as a challenge to combat ; and third, as 

 an expression of the abounding vigor and vi- 



as a healthful exercise to expend their surplus 

 energy. 



It seems, at first sight, very unfortunate that 

 Grouse nest on the ground where their nests 

 are easily accessible to the prowlers of the for- 

 est, but if they built in trees, which they almost 

 never do, their large nests would be conspicuous 

 and readily seen by their enemies. The sitting 

 bird covers her eggs, and so closely does she re- 

 semble her surroundings that even the keen-eyed 

 Hawk passes her unawares. Also she seems to 

 leave no scent at nesting time, for trained pointer 

 and setter dogs have been unable to find a mother 

 bird on the nest so long as she remained motion- 



