86 STARLIGHT AND SUNSHINE. 



is mistaken who affirms the contrary, though it were Audubon 

 himself." 



This is the utterance of conviction, and its unqualified tran- 

 script in Thoreau's page adds almost the value of his indorsement. 



Nor is this all the mystery connected with the " drummer." 



There is almost as wide a difference of opinion concerning 

 the attitude of the performer as there is in relation to his tech- 

 nique. We may take our choice between position erect, as in 

 the instance last mentioned, which is verified by many authorities; 

 or horizontal, as described by Elliot, while Audubon leaves us to 

 take our choice, simply assuring us that the bird " stretches him- 

 self out " during the process. Some say that his head is thrown 

 back towards the tail, others that it is lowered. Indeed no two 

 grouse would seem to follow the same professional method. Here 

 is certainly an opportunity for some investigator to distinguish 

 himself. The authorities are all at sixes and sevens on the mat- 

 ter, and so long as the mere eye -memory is the only witness the 

 riddle will still remain unsolved. The musical flutter of the 

 grouse will continue to hoodwink the human eye. 



We have all seen ocular demonstration of otherwise occult 

 facts through the revelations of the Muybridge photographs of 

 animals in motion the astonishing transitory attitudes of trotting 

 horse, kicking mule, jumping dog, and even the flight of birds 

 picturing what would seem anatomical impossibilities. What a 

 chance for the " snap-shot " camera in this rapid manoeuvre of the 

 grouse ! I am not aware that the bird will drum in captivity. 

 Who, then, among our amateurs with the camera will pit his wits 

 against the shy mysterious drummer in his own haunts, and bring 

 away his secret in the unimpeachable photograph ? Why not an 

 artful screen, fortified with camera, by the side of that favorite 

 "drumming-log"? Such has been a long-brooding plan of mine, 

 but as yet unfulfilled. 



Whatever the final verdict shall be, the writer is serenely con- 

 fident that if this muffled roll of the grouse demands anything 

 beyond the atmosphere as its drum, it will prove to be chanti- 

 cleer who gives the key-note to his gallinaceous tribe as he "claps 



