NATURE NOTES 275 



Scott, J. T. How to have flowers earlier next spring. Garden Mag. 2 : 

 58-60. S. '05. 



NATURE NOTES 



[Editorial Note. — Readers are requested to send brief notes, signed 

 with name or initials, for this department. Or please call attention to 

 new articles deserving brief abstracts.] 



Drumming of the Grouse. How and why the rufTed grouse drums 

 has long been a mystery to naturalists. The most ancient and most 

 generally accepted theory is that the drumming results from the bird 

 pounding on a log. But this has long been doubted because the birds 

 may drum standing on sodden and mossy logs, on rocks, or on the 

 ground, and moreover the best observers have stated that the birds 

 stand so erect that the wings do not touch the object on which the 

 bird stands. 



Professor Hodge has been raising grouse in captivity and has suc- 

 ceeded in taming them so that he has been able to observe the drum- 

 ming birds at close range and to take dozens of snap-shot photo- 

 graphs. He proves beyond the shadow of a doubt that the drum- 

 ming is made by striking the wings against the feather cushions of the 

 sides. Moreover, the fact that a young male drummed first and 

 afterwards only when the hens were removed, proved it to be a mate 

 call. The bird had no opportunity to learn from older birds and 

 therefore the reaction is inherited, not learned by imitation. This 

 and many other interesting points, with photographs, are given in 

 The Country Calendar for November. 



Butterflies at Rest. Since I wrote the article " Do birds eat butter- 

 flies " (No. 5, September) I have been watching butterflies at rest. 

 I find Pieris resting on large leaves in conspicuous positions. The 

 white contrasting with the green, they are very easy to see and should 

 be seen by the birds, one would think. Are they perhaps not eaten 

 much? Of course the position, while exposed, is one in which the 

 bird could not well perch to take the insect without alarming it; and 

 it would perhaps be difficult to take it when the bird is on the wing. 

 Also, I find Pyrgus resting on plants, looking quite conspicuous, — at 

 least to me. 



These remarks are made with the idea that perhaps The Review 

 might collect all observations, however trivial, on the subject of the 

 relation of birds and butterflies and some day edit the result for the 

 readers. Something valuable might be accomplished thus. 



T. D. A. COCKERELL. 



