50 THE RUFFED GROUSE. 



all the noise possible, and with plumage furled he stands as 

 immovable as a knot, allowing you a good view and a good 

 shot, if you are a sportsman." Audubon says: " The female, 

 which never drums, flies directly to the place where the male 

 is thus engaged, and, on approaching him, opens her wings 

 before him, balances her body to the right and left, and then 

 receives his caresses." 



Whether the drumming is produced by striking the wings 

 against the body, by striking the wings together behind the 

 back, or by simply beating the air, has been a'much debated 

 question. Probably the latter is the true explanation. Nor 

 is it merely the call of the male to the female in the breed- 

 ing season, since it is indulged in at other times of the year, 

 but is also, as Nuttall has said, "an instinctive expression 

 of hilarity and vigor." 



Behold the male strutting before the female in time of 

 courtship! The first time I saw him in this act I was utterly 

 at a loss to identify him. The ruff about the neck is per- 

 fectly erect, so that the head is almost disguised; the wings 

 are partially opened, and droop gracefully; the feathers gen- 

 erally are elevated; the tail, with its rich, black band, is 

 spread to the utmost and thrown forward. Thus he stands 

 nearly motionless, a genuine object of beauty 



The flight of the Partridge is straight forward, vigorous 

 and heavy for about half the distance, after which it simply 

 sails, and that most gracefully, almost ethereally, to the 

 place of lighting. Thus the last part of its flight is strik- 

 ingly in contrast with the first. The whirring strokes of 

 the Partridge when put up is not, in all probability, its 

 ordinary mode of flight, but only the result of its surprise. 

 The best of observers affirm that, when rising of its own 

 accord, its flight is as noiseless as that of other birds. Its 

 habit of shooting for some distance through the loose snow, 



