74 



A M ERICA N ORNITHOLOGY 



the watch for danger, they either 

 depart from the locaHty before you 

 are near, or perchance think tocon- 

 <;eal themselves from your view, and 

 only take wing as a last resort. 

 Many a wanderer through the woods 

 has been startled by a tremendous 

 disturbance, resembling the rumbling 

 of thunder, just beside him, and was 

 unable to account for it. Even after 

 long association with the grouse, 

 unless your nerves are remarkably 

 steady, your pulse will quicken at 

 the sound as they rise. The grouse 

 can fly as noiselessly as an owl if 

 they wish, and why they should 

 make all this commotion is rather a 

 mystery, although some hazard a 

 guess that it is to warn other birds 

 m the vicinity that danger is near. 

 As spring approaches they begin 

 preparations for housekeeping. At 

 this time, oftener than any other, 

 you will hear the male drumming. 

 His vocal ability is very limited so 

 he has to resort to other means to 

 produce his music. He is very par- 

 ticular about the audience he plays 

 to, and few persons have an oppor- 

 tunity to witness the spectacle. I 

 have been fortunate enough to ob- 

 serve it twice, the last time under 

 very favorable circumstances. I 

 Avas watching some small birds when 

 I heard a rustling at one side, and 

 looking up saw a grouse standing on 

 a stump not over thirty feet distant. 

 Which way he came from I could 

 not tell as I had not heard a sound 

 until he landed. He turned around 

 on the stump several times looking 

 tor anything suspicious. At last he 



satisfied himself that he was alone. 

 Spreading his tail and inflating his 

 chest he commenced to beat his 

 sides with his wings, first slowly so 

 that 1 could count the strokes and 

 hear each one fall with a dull thud 

 on his side, then faster and faster 

 until the sound merged into a con- 

 tinuous rumble. This he continued 

 for perhaps ten seconds, then stop- 

 ped and listened intently for as much 

 longer. He then silently flew away 

 and soon I heard another low rumble 

 from a distant part of the woods. 



Probably many of our readers, es- 

 pecially those living in the country, 

 have often seen a Plymouth rock 

 rooster standing on a barrel and 

 beating his sides lustily. While his 

 is a very crude performance com- 

 pared to that of the grouse, it orig- 

 inates from the same motive, either 

 desire to show his strength to the 

 females or as a challenge to other 

 males. There is a difference of 

 opinion as to how the grouse drums, 

 and several noted ornithologists have 

 claimed they do not allow the wings 

 to touch the body, but that the sound 

 is produced by the wings beating the 

 air. In this latter case you could 

 hear only a humming sound caused 

 by the air rushing through the 

 feathers, whereas you can distinct- 

 ly hear the beating of the wings on 

 the sides too. 1 have never heard 

 anyone as yet claim that a rooster 

 does not strike his sides. 



After having obtained a partner, 

 they commence building their nest, 

 that is she does for he is too proud 

 to work. It is not a very severe 



