﻿BIRDS 
  OF 
  NEW 
  YORK 
  369 
  

  

  difEerent 
  localities, 
  thus 
  maintaining 
  the 
  vigor 
  of 
  the 
  breed. 
  I 
  have 
  seen 
  

   grouse 
  in 
  the 
  North 
  Woods 
  which 
  were 
  as 
  heedless 
  of 
  man's 
  presence 
  as 
  if 
  

   they 
  had 
  been 
  reared 
  in 
  a 
  barnyard 
  and 
  when 
  flushed 
  would 
  alight 
  in 
  the 
  

   nearest 
  tree 
  and 
  almost 
  allow 
  themselves 
  to 
  be 
  knocked 
  off 
  with 
  sticks. 
  

   The 
  so 
  called 
  "crazy 
  grouse," 
  like 
  these 
  birds, 
  having 
  entered 
  surroundings 
  

   with 
  which 
  they 
  are 
  wholly 
  unfamiliar, 
  have 
  not 
  yet 
  adapted 
  themselves 
  

   to 
  the 
  new 
  conditions. 
  

  

  Habits. 
  Early 
  in 
  spring 
  the 
  cock 
  grouse 
  begins 
  to 
  strut 
  and 
  drum 
  on- 
  

   some 
  chosen 
  log 
  or 
  mossy 
  mound. 
  When 
  strutting 
  he 
  raises 
  and 
  spreads 
  

   his 
  ruff 
  imtil 
  it 
  forms 
  a 
  circle 
  about 
  his 
  head, 
  and 
  spreads 
  his 
  magnificent 
  

   tail 
  until 
  it 
  forms 
  a 
  semicircle 
  above 
  his 
  back, 
  then 
  with 
  drooping 
  wings, 
  

   he 
  parades 
  up 
  and 
  down 
  his 
  drumming 
  log 
  with 
  all 
  the 
  conceit 
  of 
  a 
  diminu- 
  

   tive 
  turkey 
  cock. 
  When 
  he 
  has 
  displayed 
  his 
  charms 
  for 
  some 
  time, 
  

   without 
  the 
  expected 
  appearance 
  of 
  an 
  appreciative 
  audience, 
  he 
  commences 
  

   to 
  drum, 
  or, 
  as 
  in 
  the 
  case 
  which 
  I 
  witnessed 
  in 
  the 
  Upper 
  Ausable 
  swamp, 
  

   he 
  sits 
  moping 
  on 
  the 
  log, 
  as 
  if 
  sleepy, 
  or 
  waiting, 
  or 
  wearied 
  from 
  his 
  exer- 
  

   tions, 
  but 
  presently 
  becomes 
  alert, 
  raises 
  his 
  head, 
  drops 
  his 
  tail, 
  straightens 
  

   his 
  wings, 
  fluffs 
  out 
  his 
  breast 
  feathers, 
  and 
  begins 
  to 
  beat 
  the 
  air 
  with 
  his 
  

   wings, 
  slowly 
  at 
  first, 
  but 
  with 
  ever 
  increasing 
  rapidity, 
  until 
  there 
  is 
  

   visible 
  only 
  a 
  mazy 
  blur, 
  extending 
  from 
  a 
  horizontal 
  to 
  a 
  vertical 
  position 
  

   at 
  the 
  bird's 
  side, 
  the 
  wings 
  evidently 
  not 
  striking 
  each 
  other 
  or 
  the 
  log 
  on 
  

   which 
  he 
  stands, 
  but 
  as 
  Professor 
  Hodge 
  suggests, 
  the 
  loose 
  feathers 
  of 
  the 
  

   sides 
  and 
  flanks 
  may 
  act 
  as 
  a 
  pillow 
  or 
  resonance 
  box 
  to 
  increase 
  the 
  hollow 
  

   sound. 
  The 
  sound 
  of 
  the 
  drumming 
  carries 
  a 
  long 
  distance 
  through 
  the 
  

   forest 
  and 
  bears 
  remarkable 
  resemblance 
  to 
  the 
  starting 
  of 
  an 
  automobile 
  

   engine 
  when 
  heard 
  at 
  a 
  distance, 
  beginning 
  with 
  two 
  or 
  three 
  slow 
  resonant 
  

   thumps 
  and 
  rapidly 
  increasing 
  in 
  speed 
  till 
  it 
  becomes 
  a 
  continuous 
  whirr. 
  

   This 
  is 
  the 
  signal 
  to 
  the 
  hen 
  that 
  her 
  lord 
  is 
  at 
  the 
  accustomed 
  rendezvous. 
  

   But 
  the 
  drumming 
  is 
  not 
  heard 
  merely 
  in 
  the 
  springtime. 
  Mr 
  Scott 
  Brown 
  

   of 
  St 
  Huberts, 
  informs 
  me 
  that 
  he 
  has 
  heard 
  it 
  nearly 
  every 
  month 
  in 
  the 
  

   year. 
  In 
  midsummer 
  when 
  the 
  birds 
  are 
  molting, 
  they 
  rarely 
  if 
  ever 
  

   drum, 
  and 
  in 
  midwinter 
  it 
  is 
  an 
  unaccustomed 
  sound, 
  but 
  in 
  the 
  sunny 
  

   -days 
  of 
  the 
  fall, 
  it 
  is 
  almost 
  as 
  familiar 
  a 
  woodland 
  sound 
  as 
  in 
  the 
  spring- 
  

  

  