368 Roosevelt Wild Life Bulletin 



any special alarm over the operation of the camera. Whether bark 

 of squirrel, rustle of scampering chipmunk, cry of Blue Jay, fall of 

 shutter curtain — each was merely an occasion for the same inquir- 

 ing stare, soon to be forgotten in the interest awakened by the next 

 small wood noise (figure 112). Before my season with these 

 drummers was over I had removed the paper tube from my lens 

 and was no longer so cautious about muffling the clicks of the camera 

 or the noise of changing film rolls. For the latter operation I had 

 at first retired to a distance of a hundred feet in the rear of the 

 blind. Toward the last the loading and unloading was done inside 

 the blinds, often within eleven feet of the grouse. 



For the first few weeks Grouse No. 1 kept me waiting for many 

 an hour at one or the other of his two logs. He had a provoking 

 way of shifting his base of operations just about the time I would 

 get nicely ensconced at either log, and he might not reappear for 

 the remainder of that half day. One day a happy thought came to 

 me after listening for some time to the drumming which had been 

 coming with provoking regularity and persistence from log No. 1, 

 I being at No. 2. Doubling up my fist and using the bare ground in 

 my blind for a drumhead, I beat an imitation of the sound ; silence, 

 intense, for about three minutes ; then my friend hopped upon the 

 log before me and appeared to look around for a supposed usurper 

 of his throne (figure 113). In another minute or two he drummed; 

 — he had decided to remain. That was not the last time the trick 

 was worked successfully. Just what chord in Grouse psychology the 

 ruse plays upon I am not sure ; perhaps it is purely a sense of pro- 

 prietorship, identical with that so common to breeding birds gener- 

 ally, over a more or less definite and restricted section of their 

 home woods. 



Experiences In a Grouse Blind. It must not be inferred from 

 the uniformity of the drumming itself that the hours spent in a 

 blind beside a drumming log are wholly monotonous. Indeed, the 

 very wildness and seclusion of any spot implied by a drumming log 

 constitute assurance that the grouse will not be one's only caller. 

 Among the incidents tending to relieve the tedium of waiting be- 

 tween acts are the visits of many birds as well as squirrels, chip- 

 munks and wood mice. Many times have I seen both red squirrels 

 and chipmunks use the drumming log for their highway. Usually 

 the grouse would politely hop to the ground to let the four-foot 

 pass; again, not infrequently, with half-raised tail, expanded wings, 

 and with head bent partly down in a mildly threatening attitude, 

 the bird stood his ground and the squirrel was obliged to detour. 

 Both grouse were fond of bugs or other similar wild-life victims. 

 It was interesting to see them spring down, as they frequently did, 

 in pursuit of one of these " small deer " on the ground near by. 

 Grouse No. I in particular was quite surprisingly adept in this 

 hunting, suggesting even a vireo or a warbler by the speed and 

 grace with which he would dart from his log and snap up some 

 small passing bug or other. The following are a few sample pages 

 from ray note-book. 



