364 Roosevelt Wild Life Bulletin 



vagueness of the preceding wing-beats is striking. Often, too, it 

 brings quite a surprise to the listener, suddenly revealing that the 

 bird he had fancied some two hundred yards or more away is in 

 fact not a quarter of that distance and in a decidedly different direc- 

 tion than he had supposed. 



Like the singing of other birds, the drumming of the grouse is 

 most frequent and regular near sunrise and sunset. At these times 

 the drummer will often remain on the log for an hour or more. It 

 is more usual, however, for him to leave the log and walk about 

 feeding near by at intervals of ten or fifteen minutes. On the 

 latter occasions he is soon back again, looking very trim and well- 

 groomed and alert as he hops to the top of the log (figure 107). 



New Facts About the Habit. There follows a summary of the 

 observed points for which I have been unable to find previous author- 

 ity among writers on drumming Grouse. But perhaps this statement 

 needs qualification as regards the striking of the air being almost 

 or quite the sole cause of the sound ; — I believe this point has been 

 heretofore largely a matter of assumption, when it has been stated 

 at all. 



1. The outward and upward motion is chiefly responsible for the 

 drumming sound, particularly during the first half of the perform- 

 ance, the inward and forward motion of the wings being for the most 

 part silent, or nearly so. 



2. The striking of the air alone with the wings is practically the 

 sole cause of the sound. 



3. The fluttering with which the drumming ends is devoid of the 

 ventriloquism which marks the preceding part of the performance. 



4. Frequently the grouse turns round and round like a dog before 

 beginning to drum, and almost invariably faces in the same direction 

 when drumming on any given log. 



Methods In Watching and Photographing Drumming Grouse. 

 My systematic observations in 1921 began on April 9 and ended 

 on June 8. For that period two grouse in particular were under 

 observation almost daily, each for from one to four hours and more 

 at a time. The locality was about two miles trom Brownville in 

 Jefferson county, Xew York. I established my headquarters, 

 a small tent shelter (figure 108), a few hundred feet from 

 the drumming logs which I discovered were being used regu- 

 larly. This tent was of canvas, about six feet long, and painted 

 dull green. In it I spent many nights so as to be within easy hearing 

 of the grouse at all hours. One of these drummers used about 

 equally two logs approximately two hundred feet apart. The other 

 bird used only one log with any regularity, but did occasionally drum 

 from one or another log or stump from fifty- to a hundred feet 

 from his favorite station. Near each regularly used drumming place, 

 as it was found. I improvised a blind or hiding place. Using in 

 each case some nearby stump or tree as a nucleus, I first built up 

 a wall having- a peephole commanding the drumming log, and then 

 added the sides as necessarv. Blinds number 2 and 3 had neither 



