108 UPLAND GAME BIRDS 



its own sides. Thoreau declared that its wings strike to- 

 gether behind its back! This "drumming" of the Ruffed 

 Grouse is heard oftenest in spring, and is a signal to the fe- 

 male; but it is also heard occasionally in summer and autumn. 



This grouse is a strong flier, and gets up before the hunter 

 with such a tremendous "burr-r-r-r" of wings, and goes off 

 so explosively, that it takes a quick eye and hand to bring 

 it down. It can dash off through timber like a feathered 

 rocket, dodging trees and branches, and zigzagging in all di- 

 rections leading away from danger, with a degree of speed and 

 certainty that is really marvellous. No wonder the young 

 hunter who kills one, fairly and squarely, feels proud of his 

 skill, and hastens away to have the trophy mounted for his 

 den. 



Unfortunately, in most eastern states, where the Ruffed 

 Grouse should hold its own for a hundred years, this bird is 

 doomed to complete extinction unless its sale for the table is 

 immediately and effectually stopped! So long as it is lawful 

 to sell it, pot-hunters will shoot it, and snare it, in season and 

 out of season, as "food" for the already over-fed patrons of 

 fashionable hotels and restaurants of the large cities. As 

 food for the hungry, this beautiful bird is not needed in the 

 least. As a means of inducing thousands of brain-weary men 

 to take healthful exercise in the woods, it will serve a highly 

 useful and important purpose if not meanly and foolishly 

 exterminated. 



In New York, Massachusetts, Pennsylvania and seventeen 

 other states the sale of game is now sternly forbidden by state 

 laws, and those laws are mostly well enforced. 



