588 THE OREGON RUFFED GROUSE. 
“partridge.” It seldom allows the dog to come to a correct point, usually 
flushing into the nearest small tree, where it sits peeping and perking like 
an overgrown chicken, regarding now the dog and now the hunter. Pot- 
shooting the birds under these circumstances can hardly be called sport, but 
their fondness for dense thickets often makes it the only way in which they 
can be obtained. ; 
In the latter part of February the mating season commences, and from 
that time until well into May the rolling drum-call of the cocks may be heard 
at any hour of the day and sometimes far into the night. Every cock has 
some particular fallen tree which he has chosen for his private drumming 
ground, and he very rarely resorts to another situation. A favorite log 
becomes worn in the course of a season, so that an experienced hunter may 
locate the trysting place in its owner’s absence. 
The motive of this singular performance is, of course, primarily sex- 
ual. It is the wooing call such as every male grouse indulges in one 
fashion or another; but there seems to be in this also a more poetic element. — 
Its exhibition is not confined to springtime, but the desire seizes the bird 
at intervals thruout the year, and especially in the fall. The grouse 
drums for the same reason that other birds sing, simply to express his joy 
of life. 
In executing this maneuver the bird stands to its full height and beats 
its wings swiftly downward towards its sides, in this manner rendering 
sounds which closely resemble the syllables bump - bump - bump, bumperrrrrr. 
The wing-beats commence slowly but end in a rapid whirr, which not 
even the most speedy lens may exactly define. The sound carries to the 
distance of half a mile or more, but so subtle, or profound, is its char- 
acter, that the ear can scarcely distinguish as between twenty yards and 
fifty. 
It is only a lucky chance which discovers the female near the drumming 
log, altho this is the appointed meeting place. On the occasion of her near 
presence the male occupies the intervals of drumming by strutting up and 
down with extended plumage, and tail held turkey-wise. We cannot blame 
the admiration of the female, and no one begrudges a mortal the right to 
strut a little before one. 
It is a moot point whether Robin Goodfellow is as faithful as he ought 
to be. The fact seems to be, however, that behavior varies greatly with 
individuals. Ordinarily the bird appears to mate but once in a season, Dur- 
ing the period of incubation, the hen is left pretty much to her own devices, 
but even then the cock is not unlikely to be somewhere in the vicinity. When 
the chicks are out, it is the mother who has the care and training of them, 
but instances are on record where the male has appeared upon the scene in 
time of danger to make gallant defense of his offspring. 
