BIRDS OF BIAINE. 55 



cleterminatiou. Later these birds together with a series from Cum- 

 berlaud County, which were kindly furnished by Mr. J. C. Mead, 

 were sent to Mr. William Brewster for identification, and he 

 referred all to the race togata. Evidence bearing on the matter 

 has been solicited from Ornithologists throughout the state, and 

 nearly all have pronounced the birds of their locality to belong to 

 this latter race. In view of this evidence, it has been deemed 

 advisable to place the true Ruffed Grouse in our hypothetical list 

 until its presence has been satisfactorily demonstrated 

 by the production of specimens taken within our limits. The 

 "Partridge" is a common resident throughout the state, breeding 

 from early May to the middle of June. Perhaps the eggs may be 

 deposited at an earlier date in some localities, but when fresh eggs 

 are found at a later date than June 15th it is reasonably fair to 

 assume that they are a second set, and doubtless due to the bird 

 having been robbed of her first laying. The drumming of the 

 cock bird is a sound well known to nearly every inhabitant of the 

 state. While during the breeding season it probably serves to 

 attract the female, yet it cannot be used exclusively for this pur- 

 pose, as I have heard birds drumming in the late fall and even in 

 midwinter. However, it is a fact that the birds drum most fre- 

 quently in the spring and early summer. This drumming and the 

 attitude assumed while doing so are admirably described by Mr. J. 

 C. Mead in the Maine Sportsman for June, 1896, p. 6, and also 

 by "Penobscot" in the September issue of the same on p. 6. The 

 editor has examined birds from Aroostook, Cumberland, Frank- 

 lin, Hancock, Penobscot, and Waldo Counties, and found all to be 

 referable to togata. 



County Kecords. — Audroscoggin, '-common resident" (Call) ; Aroos- 

 took, "reported as common" (Knight) ; Cumberland, "common resident" 

 (Mead) ; Franklin, '•common resident" (Lee and McLain) ; Hancock, 

 "common resident both inland and on many of the wooded islands along 

 the coast" (Knight); Kennebec, "common resident" (Powers); Knox, 

 "resident" (Eacklift") ; Oxford, "breeds common" (Nash); Penobscot, 

 "common resident" (Knight); Piscataquis, "common resident" (Homer) ; 

 Sagadahoc, "nests" (Spinney) ; Somerset, "common" (Morrell) ; Waldo, 

 "common" (Knight) ; Washington, "common" (Boardmau) ; York, 

 "woukl be common if sportsmen would let them alone" (Adams). 



