BIRDS OF THE PASTURE AND FOREST. 213 



his perch. It is very difficult to obtain sight of the bird 

 while he is drumming, and then we cannot venture 

 near enough to see his motions very distinctly. But 

 whenever I have gained sight of one in the act of drum- 

 ming, he seemed to me to elevate his wings and strike 

 them together over his back, increasing the rapidity of 

 these strokes, until the last was nothing more than the 

 sound produced upon the air by the rapid vibration of the 

 feathers of his wings and tail. A similar vibrating sound 

 is made by the Turkey with his tail-feathers when strut- 

 ting about the yard among the females. 



It seems very improbable that the Grouse has sufficient 

 power to make so much sound by flapping the concave 

 surface of his wings against his downy sides. Birds can- 

 not move their wings with so much force in this direction 

 as in the opposite one ; and so long as some uncertainty 

 exists about it, it is the wisest course to reason from anal- 

 ogy, and to conclude that the Partridge makes this sound 

 as similar ones are made by certain domestic birds. 

 Many of our farmers believe that this bird stands on a 

 log and makes the drumming sound by striking the shoul- 

 ders of his wings against the log. Some think the log 

 must therefore be hollow. But instances are well known 

 where a bird has selected a rock for his drumming-place, 

 when the same sound is produced. 



As the flapping of the wings of the common Cock pre- 

 vious to crowing is a mode of expressing defiance, the 

 same may be said of the drumming of the Partridge, who 

 before and after his drumming struts about in the most 

 amusing way, placing himself in many graceful attitudes. 

 All these actions are a part of the ceremony of courtship. 

 They always, therefore, excite the jealousy of other males, 

 who, if sufficiently bold, will immediately attack the 

 drummer. The conqueror draws in his train the great 

 part of the females, and becomes their favorite. 



