i THE RUFFED GROUSE. 
General Range.—E astern United States and southern Canada, west to Min- 
nesota, south in the mountains to northern Georgia, Mississippi, and Arkansas. 
Range in Ohio.—Formerly common throughout the state, except in prairie 
portions ; now greatly reduced in numbers and locally restricted. Most common 
in hilly portions south and northeast. 
APPRECIATION of the Ruffed Grouse is about equally divided between 
the nature-lovers and the sportsmen. Be he gunner or poet there is none who 
can withstand the charms of the October woods in which it lives, when the 
air is crisp and the fallen leaves are rustling smartly. The trees are not yet 
entirely stripped, but certain clusters of saplings have great windrows piled 
about their feet, and the carpet of the woods is everywhere pregnant with 
possibilities. The poet feels the overhush of autumn and the gunner the 
undercrush of leaves, but both alike are startled by the first wing-rush of the 
Partridge, as it bursts from cover and whirls away like a cyclone to the utter- 
most parts of the woods. ‘Time was when the Partridge treed from curiosity 
at yelping cur or whistling human, but now there is just a half moment for 
the gunner, or the chase must be renewed. 
On the drumming log those marvelous wings which stir the blood like 
none others, may be heard again: 
“Hearest thou that bird? 
I listened, and from ‘midst the depth of woods 
Heard the love signal of the Grouse that wears 
A sable ruff around his mottled neck : 
Partridge they call him by our northern streams 
And Pheasant by the Delaware. He beats 
‘Gainst his barred sides his speckled wings, and makes 
A sound like distant thunder; slow the strokes 
At first, then fast and faster, till at length 
They pass into a murmur, and are still.” 
The purpose of this extraordinary music is well known; it is to attract 
the female and guide her to the tryst. It is not, however, certainly known 
whether the bird is monogamous or not. Bendire thinks he is. On the other 
hand, Henry William Herbert once saw seven hen birds grouped about a strut- 
ting male. “And seven women shall take hold of one man in that day, saying, 
We will eat our own bread and wear our own apparel; only let us be cailed 
by thy name; take thou away our reproach.” 
Various theories have been advanced as to the real method of sound pro-_ 
duction in drumming. The reverberating sounds were long supposed to be 
due to the impact of the wings upon the breast. A very creditable imitation 
may be produced by a sound-winded man who pounds upon his lungs with 
clenched fists. Others affirmed that the ictus was made by the contact of 
wings as they met over the back. Bendire says: “It is generally conceded 
