104 



and the hunters keep the eagle and the 

 fox and all our foes away, and our fam- 

 ily of red grouse in Scotland is larger 

 now than before the hunters came. It 

 is because we are on the moors that all 

 the wealthy people come to Scotland 

 in August. Thousands of strangers fill 

 the land, and they all come for us, the 

 little red grouse who live only on Brit- 

 ish moors. We are proud of the fact 

 that we are the only bird that belongs 

 to Great Britain alone. We take care 

 of our young together, my mate and I, 

 and in October we join other families 

 and fly to the uplands." 



Just here the hens of the capercailzie 

 and the black cock began a noisy clat- 

 ter. " I wish our husbands were like 

 the red grouse," said one. , "I think it 

 is a perfect shame," said another; "my 

 mate never stays near the nest. When 

 I must leave the eggs to hunt for food 

 he is never there to keep them warm." 

 " I wish I were a willow grouse or a red 

 grouse," said another demure little hen. 

 The black cocks and the capercailzie 

 looked rather ashamed; even the chair- 

 man hung his head, but he quickly 

 called the hens to order, saying: "Now 

 we will hear from our American friend, 

 the ruffed grouse." 



"Wake up! Wake up! You have been 

 sleeping in the moonlight!" "Where 

 is the ruffed grouse?" I sleepily ask, 

 and then my brother laughs and asks 

 what I have been dreaming. So it was 

 all a dream, and the moonlight, the 

 pines, the grouse and the jubilee have 

 been but parts of a dream! " You awoke 

 me and now you must tell me about 

 the ruffed grouse," I say to my brother. 



" Well, you must know that there are 

 many varieties of grouse in our broad 

 land, but the ruffed grouse is the 

 gamiest and handsomest in plumage of 

 all the grouse family. It is swifter on 

 the. wing and harder to shoot. 



"This bird is called ruffed grouse 



because he can raise the numerous 

 wide soft feathers on each side of the 

 neck and make a ruff like those the 

 ladies used to wear when Elizabeth was 

 Queen of England. 



"His favorite home is in the heavy 

 bird forests or in the thickets of the 

 scrub oak and he is seldom found in 

 places open enough for good hunting 

 with the dogs. 



"When disturbed, the birds fly like 

 an arrow for the thickest shelter. 

 They dart behind the tree trunks or 

 light upon its branches, and are so still 

 and so exactly the color of the tree 

 that they look like part of it. 



"The ruffed grouse are found in all 

 parts of the United States. They go 

 in pairs or in small companies. The 

 drumming noise made by the male 

 when he is calling his mate is a very 

 pleasant sound in the woods and may 

 sometimes be heard a mile away. 



" He selects a hollow log, struts back 

 and forth upon it, and at last strikes 

 his sides with his wings so rapidly that 

 the noise resembles distant thunder. 

 When his mate comes he raises his ruff 

 until his head is almost hidden. He 

 spreads his tail like a fan, and tries to 

 make himself lovely in her eyes. 



" They build their nest on the ground. 

 It is made of grass, twigs and leaves. 

 The mother-bird is very clever in pro- 

 tecting her young brood. If she hears 

 someone near, she gives a cluck and 

 they disappear, while she moves slowly 

 along trying to lead the intruder away 

 from the nest. When she can get be- 

 hind a tree she flies swiftly away, com- 

 ing back to the nest when she thinks 

 all is safe. 



" Go to sleep again and perhaps you 

 will have another dream," laughed my 

 brother. "That is all interesting, but 

 I am sorry I did not hear the ruffed 

 grouse tell his own story." 



Florence Holbrook. 



I 



