THE EARTH'S BOUNTY 



an almost painful sensation on the drum; the 

 wings were immediately recovered, and an- 

 other stroke, a trifle quicker than the first, was 

 succeeded by another quicker still, until the 

 wings vibrated too fast to be followed by the 

 eye, producing the well-known terminal ' roll 

 of muffled thunder/ and not till then the 

 ' semicircular haze.' I say not till then, for 

 the first two or three strokes could be distinctly 

 followed by the eye. This over, the bird im- 

 mediately rose to its feet, shook its feathers 

 with an air of relief, and resumed its attitude 

 of repose. 



" I think the drumming of the ruffed grouse 

 is produced by the forward beats of the stiff- 

 ened wings on the air, the planes of their mo- 

 tion being nearly horizontal, about four inches 

 in length, with the initial ends represented by 

 the points of a wire passed through the center 

 of the erect body, from side to side." 



Another game bird which is easily domesti- 

 cated is the wild duck. A friend who stayed 

 with us one summer, whilst wandering about 



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