328 Ttjttle, Drumming of the Ruffed Grouse. [j,^ 



from the camera and concealed from the bird by a little rise of 

 ground) and I spent ten anxious minutes wondering if he had heard 

 me and become alarmed, or whether he had seen the thread tremble 

 as I took hold of it. At the three preliminary drum beats I slowly 

 pulled the thread, but there was so much slack to take up that the 

 shutter did not go off till just before the " roll." 



April 18-May 1. A series of failures followed. On two occa- 

 sions the shutter was sprung during the night, either by a branch 

 blown against the thread by the wind, or by some one who like 

 myself enjoys wandering from the beaten path. Rain precluded 

 two other attempts, and the Grouse, becoming shy, sought an- 

 other log some five hundred yards to the east, where after fol- 

 lowing his booming challenge I discovered him during the last 

 days of April. The situation was more favorable to photography, 

 for the log lay at the top of a ridge, broadside to the east, and 

 caught whatever rays of light penetrated the second growth when 

 the sun rose over the gap in the hills. After one partially success- 

 ful attempt with a thread nearly one hundred yards long, and two 

 failures, I decided to pursue another method. If the Grouse 

 would accept a blind, I should be able to choose the pose I most 

 desired, suit the time of the exposure to the light conditions, and 

 observe the drumming at fairly close range. I therefore set up 

 and concealed my camera about four feet from the position on the 

 log where the Grouse was accustomed to drum, and pitched my 

 blind some twenty-five feet to the east. 



May 2. At a quarter before four (sun time) I set out for the 

 second growth ridge and the drum log of the Ruffed Grouse. The 

 moon was still shining when I left the house, and I could see my 

 shadow by its light as I crossed the home field. Robins were 

 singing and an occasional Red-winged Blackbird flew overhead. 

 Early as I was, I was too late, for with a whistled alarm note the 

 Grouse flushed from the log as I made my way through the woods 

 toward the blind. After a wait of forty minutes I heard him step- 

 ping over the dry leaves, and shortly after, the four preliminary 

 wing beats boomed out. Up to this time I had not dared to move 

 sufficiently to glance through the peek hole which I had provided, 

 but now I did so, and saw the Grouse sitting hunched up in a little 

 ball upon the log. 



