156 TETRAONID^E. 



hen and in young birds is brown. The under parts are 

 yellowish white, marked with dark broken bars. The legs 

 are not feathered so far down as either in the Prairie-hen 

 or in the Canada-grouse. The female does not differ 

 very much from the male ; but her ruffs are somewhat 

 smaller and of a browner hue. The general tint, how- 

 ever, of both male and female varies a good deal. 



A curious characteristic of this bird is its " drum- 

 ming," a noise well known to backwoodsmen, which, is 

 made by the male bird morning and evening from the 

 commencement of the breeding season, i. e., in April. 

 This sound, which is audible at a great distance, few 

 persons would readily believe to proceed from such a 

 source. Wilson informs us that the strokes, which begin 

 slowly and distinctly, are caused by beating the lowered 

 wings on the trunk of some fallen tree; increasing in 

 quickness, they end at last in a continuous rumbling, 

 resembling low distant thunder. During this drumming 

 the ruffs on the shoulders are elevated, the tail is ex- 

 panded, and the bird wheels and struts about with great 

 pomposity. 



These birds make their nest in the month of May, 

 and the female lays about a dozen eggs of a pale 

 yellowish-brown, rather smaller than those of the 

 Prairie-hen. The nest, being artfully concealed among 

 long grass and briars, is seldom discovered. 



