■AMERICAN ORNITHOLOGY. 



101 



^ye have photographs wh.ich show that the wings do not come within several 

 inches of the log, and though the bird has often been seen drumming on a 

 rock or on the ground, even, a great many people will still insist that the 

 grouse "pounds on the log." 



Others have claimed tliat they could see the wings strike together over 

 the back, others, that the bird drums by stamping on the log with his feet, 

 others, that the wings strike the breast, still others that the sound is produced 

 in the throat and without any wing motion. Professor William Brewser 

 thinks that the wings strike only the ai)-, and he has had excellent opportun- 

 ities for observation. I tried to get some photographs with the camera look- 

 ing directly down on the drummer, in order to show just how far forwrrd 

 the wings came. He did not seem to like this arrangement and went over 

 to the stone to drimi, so that I did not succeed in securing this most decisive 

 picture. However, a number of my negatives show the blur of the rapidly 

 whirring wings coming up to the feathers along the sides ; and, with all 

 respect for Professor Brewster's view, for the present I am inclined to agree 

 with Audubon, that the sound is made by the wings striking the soft feather 

 cushions of the sides. 



Grouse Drumming. 

 (Wings at their fullest extent). 



Photo by C. F. Hodge. 



