THE BIRDS OF MAINE 



a " putter, putter-p— r-r-r— " two or three times. Stopping he 

 quickly raised his wings from his body until they seemed 

 almost if not quite to touch over his back, repeatedly, 

 quicker and quicker they rose and fell while the well 



known " t h u m p, t h u m p, 



t — h — u — m — p, t-h-u-m-p, thump, thump, thump- 

 r— r— r— r— r— r— r— rolled out on the air. 



How did he do it? Don't ask me, for I was too frightened for 

 fear he would see me before completing his performance to 

 move a muscle or hardly to look at him. The wings most 

 certainly hit against his sides and might have thus produced 

 the sound. So many sportsmen have argued the matter pro 

 and con that it is hard to say which is right. However my 

 Grouse stopped his drumming to begin to strut, as quickly saw 

 me and then with a "quiter-quit" he slipped down and ran a 

 few steps, rose and flew away. 



Do different individual birds vary the manner in which they 

 drum? It seems quite likely that they do for I have noticed 

 quite an appreciable difference in the timing, number of thumps 

 and other sounds proceeding from different localities, while the 

 performance of an individual in the same locality from day to 

 day seemed quite uniform. 



Different observers have told of the fierce fights which 

 sometimes rage between two males for possession of a given 

 drumming log but I have never chanced to see such a novel sight 

 though once in spring the numerous scattered feathers from 

 what was certainly two different birds in the vicinity of a 

 drumming log indicated that some kind of a tragedy had 

 taken place. 



The female in late April or early May selects a nesting site 

 always on the ground, under a brush pile, at the foot of a tree, 

 close to a large rock or in some similar situation in the rather 

 open woods or thickets. The nest is somewhat hollowed out 

 and rather sparsely constructed of dry leaves, pine needles, 

 dry grass, occasionally a very few feathers, and similar material. 



