OEEGON RUFFED GROUSE 555 



The male Ruffed Grouse has no distinctive call-notes such as 

 charai'terize manj^ of our species of game birds. Instead it has a 

 mechanical method of communication, usually spoken of as "drum- 

 ming." This sound is most often heard during the late winter and 

 early spring months, though there is a notable resumption of the 

 performance in the autumn. Its primary use is probably to attract the 

 females, for it is most frequently repeated in the mating season. 



Tlie cock Grouse usually selects a mossy log, near some open hedge, clearing, 

 or woods road, and partly screened by bushes, where he can see and not be seen. 

 When about to drum he erects his neck feathers, spreads his tail, and, with droop- 

 ing wings, steps ■with a jerking motion along the log for some distance each way 

 from his dnimming place, walking back and forth several times and looking 

 sharply in every direction ; then, standing crosswise, he stretches himself to his 

 fullest height and delivers the blows Avith his wings fully upon his sides, his wings 

 being several inches clear from the log. After drumming he settles quietly down, 

 into a sitting posture, and remains silently listening for five or ten minutes, when, 

 if no cause for alarm is discovered, he repeats the process. 



The drumming place is resorted to by the male from year to year [and may 

 sometimes be worn smooth as a result]. It may be a log, a rock, an old stump, 

 or when such are not available, a small hillock is made to ansAver the purpose 

 equally as well. While this drumming can not be considered a love note, as it 

 may be heard almost every month in the year, and sometimes in the night as well 

 as in the daytime, yet it nmst undoubtedly have some attraction for the female, 

 and I think is performed as a sign of bodily vigor [and] to notify her of his 

 whereabouts. Occasionally it causes a jealous rival to put in an appearance also, 

 when a rough-and-tumble fight ensues. The female is seldom seen near the 

 drumming place (Bendire, 1892, p. 61, writing of the eastern umhellus). 



Dawson (1909, p. 588) says the sound made by a drumming grouse 

 closely resembles the syllables hump-hump-hump, humpcrrvrrrr. The 

 wing-beats commence slowly and end in an exceedingly rapid whirr. 

 The quality of the sound is such that it carries far and yet gives 

 no notion of exact distance. 



During most of the year the Ruffed Grouse roosts at night in trees, 

 but often during the winter months where there is considerable snow 

 on the ground the birds pass the nights under the snow. They 

 "dive'' into the snow from a tree, leaving no track on the surround- 

 ing surface. In extremely cold weather they are reluctant to leave 

 such a warm and comfortable shelter and are said sometimes to emerge 

 rather late in the morning, or in the event of severe storms to remain 

 under the surface for a day or more. If a crust forms on the snow 

 as a result of the temperature falling rapidly after a thaw the grouse 

 may be imprisoned and be unable to break through and thereafter 

 die from starvation. But this sort of an accident probably rarely 

 happens in California. 



There is but one know^n record of the nesting of the Oregon Ruffed 

 Grouse in California, although special search in the proper localities 



