126 GAME BIRDS OF NORTH AMERICA. 



keep with the hen during the day, seeking food ; if startled at any 

 time they hide under the leaves, or in the grass like the young 

 quail. The mother bird, during this time, is resorting to stratagem 

 to draw the intruder away from her brood. When the brood is 

 ten days old they have sufficient strength to fly from twenty to 

 thirty yards, and as soon as they drop hide instantly among the 

 dead leaves and grass. The hen is never assisted by the cock in 

 caring for her young. The cocks club together until the latter 

 part of August, when they all again join the hen and brood. In 

 the latter part of March and all through April and May, in the gul- 

 lies where the hemlocks and pines are the most dense, the cock 

 grouse can be found standing upon an old moss-grown log, drum- 

 ming. With this peculiar music he draws the female to his side. 

 While drumming, his form is erect, and his feathers appear to 

 stand upon end, grander and more delicate than the turkey cock. 

 His head is posed over the end of his wing, within four inches of 

 his tail. The tail is spread like an open fan, making a half-circle, 

 showing the many beautiful tints. His ruff, which is on each side 

 of his neck, is raised, showing the beautiful jet it contains. The 

 delicate curve of the wing lies close to the feet, almost hiding them. 

 See him now, as he whirls right and left, and struts upon his fa- 

 vorite log. In ten or fifteen minutes he closes the whole of his 

 feathers, and of a sudden he stretches himself, beats his wing in 

 the air close to his sides, after the manner of the dunghill cock, but 

 more clearly and with lightning rapidity ; these rapid strokes pro- 

 duce a sound resembling the rumbling of thunder in the distance. 

 One may often hear it six hundred yards, and in clear weather with 

 wind favorable it can be heard at a much greater distance. The 

 cock, if not disturbed, will every morning drum upon the same log 

 during the breeding season ; the proof is the excrement and fine 

 feathers that can be found at the spot. In the mating season they 

 frequently have fierce battles. The cock has generally from two 

 to six hens under his protection. In some parts of Ohio, Penn- 

 sylvania, Kentucky and Dakota is the best ruffed grouse shooting 

 in the States ; but this bird is found in almost every section of our 

 countiy. In many places near the banks of the Mississippi and 

 Missouri Rivers the shooting is very fair, and on the Columbia 

 River also. All through Tennessee, Kentucky, and Virginia Ruffed 



