GROUSE. 409 



enough to approach closely an old cock in the act of drum- 

 ming, will be well rewarded for the trouble that he may have 

 taken in so doing. Generally on a log or broad stump, or in 

 a cleared spot, the bird will be seen, puffed like a Turkey to 

 twice his natural size, with his crest erect, his ruffs extended 

 (as in the cut, fig. 20), and his tail spread, strutting about, 

 lowering or twisting his neck and head, and then suddenly 

 beating violently with his wings his inflated body.* This 

 causes a sound, which on a favorable day may be heard for a 

 mile or two, and which is often repeated at intervals for some 

 time. One can appreciate the muscular vitality of the wings 

 and the rapidity of their motion, by endeavoring to imitate 

 the sound on a cushion (or other surface) with the hand. It 

 will be found impossible to equal or even to approach the 

 rapidity of the repeated strokes. 



The eggs, deposited from day to day, are generally laid be- 

 fore the first of June, and mature in about eighteen days. 

 The young leave the nest immediately, and find the greater 

 part of their own food, though the hen sometimes offers them 

 a few morsels. At this time, the latter part of June, and 

 indeed through the rest of the summer, the young broods 

 commonly frequent low, moist grounds in thick coverts, where 

 food is abundant and water at hand, and there they are sure 

 to be met with in a search for summer Woodcock. Should a 

 brood be disturbed, while still with the hen, the latter feigns 

 lameness, and decoys the intruder away, suffering him to put 

 his hand almost upon her, uttering a clucking of anxiety, 

 until she thinks him at a safe distance from her young, when 

 she darts off on the wing, her chicks having meantime hid- 

 den, and leaves the deluded victim of this pretty ruse to won- 

 der alone. Sometimes, she even bristles up and attacks the 

 offender, as well as she can, and much like a brooding Hen. 



* The long - vexed question as to bird's wings strike neither its body nor 



how the Partridge drums is still a the log, but simply the air, and that 



subject of dispute among ornitholo- the sound which they produce while the 



gists and sportsmen. It will perhaps Partridge is drumming is essentially 



never be settled to the satisfaction of the same as that heard when it starts 



every one, but I have convinced my- in flight. W. B. 

 self, by repeated observations, that the 



