ooO Tuttle, Drumming of the Riiffed Grouse. \.Su\y 



outlines of the wings were lost in the ecstacy of the "roll." I 

 waited till five-fifteen for my first picture, and on the first sign of 

 uneasiness on his part (significant of the fact that he was about to 

 drum), I made the thread taut. At the first shift of his wings, I 

 pulled. He saw the movement of the thread and held the pose 

 while the shutter clicked at one fifth of a second. I took the second 

 picture with the camera set for a side view, at five-thirty, selecting 

 almost the same pose. He again detected the movement and held 

 his position. As soon as the shutter clicked he continued to drum. 

 He seemed to take only a passing interest in the scream of a Red- 

 shouldered Hawk, but manifested an unusual degree of pleasure 

 or curiosity in the song of a Bobolink as it flew overhead. He 

 cocked his head on one side and apparently watched the course of 

 its flight. He noticed the slightest noises and would turn his 

 head at the scratching of my pencil as I wrote up these notes, though 

 the blind was twenty-five feet distant from the log. Occasionally, 

 in the intervals between drummings, his breast puffed out and his 

 head shot forward, as if he were being relieved of gas on his stomach 

 or had the hiccoughs. (This happened once on both mornings.) 

 He drummed every seven minutes, though the interval was some- 

 times longer, particularly if he had heard a suspicious sound. 

 When alarmed he drew himself up and stretched his neck to its full 

 height. Sometimes before drumming he acted as if he were about 

 to leave, turned about and looked for a convenient descent to the 

 ground. Then, as if reluctant to go, or as if determined on just 

 one more performance, he turned, braced himself, and began to 

 drum. 



May 8. I arrived in the blind at two-fifty, and began my silent 

 vigil. The Grouse appeared at four-twenty-five, hurried along 

 the log, as if late for an appointment, and at once began to drum. 

 He drummed four times by four-thirty, and seven times by four- 

 forty-two. Just before the seventh time he dropped off the log, 

 and I was afraid that I had lost my chance to photograph him, 

 but he immediately returned to his post and drummed. I think 

 he picked up a grub or some live food that had caught his eye. 



After drumming the tail is flung up stiffly for a moment. I have 

 never observed a more alert and watchful bird, and he seemed even 

 more watchful on this morning than on previous occasions. At 



