5072 THE ZooLOGIST—SEPTEMBER, 1876. 
Besides these peculiar notes and actions indulged in by the 
birds at particular times, most grouse at the pairing season per- 
form strange dances and antics, which have been amusingly 
described by various writers. There is a laughable account of 
one of these “‘ chicken-dances,” as the Americans call them, in the 
first volume of the late Mr. T. Keast Lord’s ‘The Naturalist in 
British Columbia.’ On this occasion it was the sharptailed grouse 
(Pediocetes Phasianellus) which provided the entertainment. At 
the risk of extracting a passage which may be well known to many 
of our readers, we give the humorous picture of the performance 
in Mr. Lord’s own words :— 
“T had often longed to be present at one of these chicken-dances; and it 
so happened that, riding up into the hills early one spring morning, my 
most ardent wishes were fully realised. The peculiar ‘chuck-chuck’ came 
clear and shrill upon the crisp frosty air, and told me a dance was afoot. 
I tied up my horse and my dog, and crept quietly along, and, without 
exciting observation, gained the shelter of an old pine-stump close to the 
summit of a hillock; and there, sure enough, the ball was at its height. 
‘Reader, can you go back to the days of your first pantomime, your first 
Punch-and-Judy, or bring to your remembrance the fresh, bounding, joyous 
delight that you felt in the days of your youth, when you had before your 
eyes some long and deeply-wished-for novelty? If you can, you will be able 
to imagine my childish pleasure when looking for the first time on a 
chicken-dance. ‘There were about eighteen or twenty birds present on this 
occasion, and it was almost impossible to distinguish the males from the 
females, the plumage being so nearly alike; but I imagine the females 
were the passive ones. The four birds nearest to me were head to head, 
like game-cocks in fighting attitude—the neck-feathers ruffed up, the little 
sharp tail elevated straight on end, the wings dropped close to the ground, 
but keeping up by a rapid vibration a continued throbbing or drumming 
sound. 
“ They circled round and round each other in slow waltzing time, always 
maintaining the same attitude, but never striking at or grappling with each 
other; then the pace ‘increased, and one hotly pursued the other until he 
faced about, and téte-a-téte went waltzing round again; then they did a sort 
of ‘Cure’ performance, jumping about two feet into the air until they were 
winded; and then they strutted about and ‘struck an attitude,’ like an 
acrobat after a successful tumble. There were others marching about, with 
their tails and heads as high as they could stick them up, evidently doing 
the ‘heavy swell;’ others, again, did not appear to have any well-defined 
ideas what they ought to do, and kept flying up and pitching down again, 
i ee |. 
