THE RUFFED GEOUSE. 391 



his wings against his sides and the log with considerable 

 force. This produces a hollow drumming noise, that may 

 be heard to a considerable distance : it commences very 

 slowly, and, after a few strokes, gradually increases in 

 velocity, and terminates with a rolling beat very similar to 

 the roll of a drum. 



I know not by what law of acoustics, but this drumming 

 is peculiar in sounding equally as loud at a considerable 

 distance off, as within a few rods. I have searched for the 

 bird when I have heard the drumming, and, while supposing 

 hiin to be at a considerable distance, have flushed him within 

 the distance of fifty feet, and vice versa. 



The young birds, like those of all our G-allince, follow 

 their mother almost as soon as they are hatched. I have 

 often found these broods in the woods, and can com- 

 pare them to nothing so much as the chicks of domestic 

 poultry. 



The female, when her family is surprised, quickly gives a 

 warning cluck, when the whole brood adroitly conceal them- 

 selves. I have known a number to disappear, as if by 

 magic, beneath a bunch of leaves or grass ; and it required 

 a long, careful search to discover their whereabouts. 



I once came suddenly upon a covey of these young birds, 

 when the mother, taken by surprise, uttering a harsh cry, 

 flew at my foot, and commenced pecking it fiercely : the 

 young scrambled off, uttering faint peets, when the old bird, 

 perhaps astonished at this departure from her usual mod- 

 esty, suddenly retreated, and concealed herself. The young 

 birds associate with the female until scattered by sportsmen 

 or by a scarcity of provender. They are much more deli- 

 cate as food, when about two-thirds grown, than the old 

 birds, as they have less of that peculiar bitter taste, and 

 have a rich flavor, almost similar to that of the Woodcock. 



The food of this species consists of various seeds, berries, 

 grapes, and insects. When nothing else can be obtained, 

 they will eat the leaves of the evergreens, and buds of 



