212 



NATURAL HISTORY OF BIRDS. 



sound that may be heard at a great distance, but ])artakc8 somewhat of the cliaracter 

 of vc-ntriloquisni, as it is difficult to locate the jiosition of the ])erformer. In the 

 breeding season tiiis may be executed to attract the females, but as the same perform- 

 ance is also gone through with in the autumn, it cannot always be for this jiurpose. 

 Some writers state that the winu's strike the flanks, othci-s that they strike each other 

 above the back, while others again, that they strike nothing, — the fact being that the 

 movement is so rapid that it defies the closest observer to determine exactly what 

 does take ]ilace. 



Flo. 99. — Bonasa 6c/u/iiia. huzel-grouse. 



The allies of the ruffed-grouse in Euro]ic and Asia, the J}, bitidina, has, with two 

 other lately described Kj)ecies, li. scmirzoiH, and U. f/riseiventris, been separated by 

 some writers into a distinct genus, Tetrastes. The hazel-grouse is not found in Great 

 Britain, but is distriinited generally throughout Euro))e and Asia from France to 

 northern China. It has also been met with in .lapan. This species is not ])ossessed 

 of the ruff, and is smaller than the American bird, neither does it indulge in the habit 

 of drumming. It is monog.imous, the males leaving the young to the care of the 



