OROUSE, BOB-WHITES, ETC. 



ISl 







barred with blackisli or diirk trniyinh brown, tlie burs iiulistlnct on Mic breust 

 and belly, strou^ar on the sidus. A<1. 9. — Situilur, but with the neck tufts 

 very snmll. L., IT'HO; W., 7"J'); T., il-J."); H. tVoin N., -iVi. 



A'a«f/«'.--t;u.-*teni United Suites*, from Vermont to Virf^'iniu, and alonjj tlio 

 Alle;;haniert to nortiiern (ieori.'ia. 



Wasliinirton, not eommon 1*. U. Sin^^j Sing, oonimon I*. K. Cambridge, 

 common P. K. 



.A'(.s/, on the ground, at the l)ase of a stump or tree, or Ijeneath brush. 

 E'jijx, eight to fourteen, pale oehraceous-buti", 1'.'>"J x 1-13. 



Of all the chariictei'istics of tliis superb gaino bird, its habit of 

 ilruinniing is perhaps tiie most remarkable. This loiul tattoo begins 

 with the measured tluimp of the big drum, thea gradually changes 

 anil dies away in the rumble of the kettle-drum. It may be briefly rep- 

 resented thus: Thump thump thump — thump, thump; thump, 



thump-rup rup nip rup r-r-r-r-r-r-r-r-r. The sound is produced by 

 the male bird beating the air with his wings as he stands flrndy braced 

 on some favorite low perch; and it is now quite well known to be the 

 call of the male to the female; an announcement that he is at the old 

 riMid(!ZV()us — a rendezvous that has perhaps served them for more tlian 

 one season, ami a place that in time becomes so fraught with delight- 

 fid associations that even in autumn or winter the male, when he flnds 

 himself in the vicinity, can not resist the temptation to mount his 

 wonted percli and vent his feelings in the rolling drum-beat that was 

 in si)ringtiuie his song of love. Hut now, alas ! there is no lady Grouse 

 to come, shy but responsive, at the sound of his reverberating sum- 

 mons. 



There is good reason for supposing that tlu^ RulTed Grouse is po- 

 lygamous, and that the male, if he drums in vain at one place, will 

 fly to another retreat and there seek the society of some more compli- 

 ant fetnale. 



The young Grouse can run about as soon as they are hatched, and 

 can fly well when about a week old. Their mother is celebrated for the 

 variety of expedients she puts in practice to save her brood from threat- 

 ened (huiger, and their father has fre(|uently been known to divide the 

 charge with her. The young usually continue with their parents till 

 the following spring, though it is rare at this time *'<) see more than 

 three or four surviving out of the original twelve or fourteen. 



The food of this Grouse is largely insects and berries during the 

 summer; in the autumn it adds seeds to the list, and when the ground 

 is covered with snow the staples are catkins, leaves, and buds. 



Its toes are provided dtiring the winter with a curious fringe of 

 strong, horny points which act as snowshoes. In the northern j)art 

 of its range this bird commotdy burrows into a snowdrift to pass the 

 niglit during the season of intense cold ; but in the summer and in 



i 



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