BONASA TJMBELLUS, RUFFED GROUSE. 423 



" Wilson's ac'couut is substantially the same, though he does not say 

 that the bird beats the body with its wings. We quote his own words: 



"'The drumming, as it is called, of the Pheasant is another singu- 

 larity of this species. This is performed by the male alone. This 

 drumming is most common in the spring, and is the call of the code to 

 Ms favorite female. It is produced in the following manner : The bird, 

 standing on an old, prostrate log, generally in a retired and sheltered 

 situation, contracts his throat, erects his expanded tail, elevates the 

 two tufts of feathers on his neck, and inflates his whole body, some- 

 thing in the manner of the Turkey-cock, strutting and wheeling about 

 with great stateliuess. After a few manoeuvres of this kind, he begins 

 to strike with his stiffened wings in short and quick strokes, which 

 become more and more rapid until they run into each other, as has 

 been already described.' (American Ornithology, Wilson and Bona- 

 parte, vol. ii, pp. 266 and 267.) 



"Nuttall describes it more in the manner of Audubon, and is more 

 satisfactory in his conjectures as to ichy this sound is produced. Ac- 

 cordingly we quote his account in full : 



" ' In the month of April the Euffed Grouse begins to be recognized 

 by his peculiar dyimiming, heard soon after dawn and toward the close 

 of evening. At length, as the season of pairing approaches, it is heard 

 louder and more frequent till a later hour of the day, and commences 

 again toward the close of the afternoon. This sonorous, crepitating 

 sound, strongly resembling a low peal of distant thunder, is produced 

 by the male, who, as a preliminary to the operation, stands upright on 

 a prostrate log, parading with erected tail and ruff, and with drooping 

 wings, in the manner of the Turkey. After swelling out his feathers 

 and strutting forth for a few moments, at a sudden impulse, like the 

 motions of a crowiug-cock, he draws down his elevated plumes, and, 

 stretching himself forward, loudly beats his sides with his wings with 

 such accelerating motion, after the first few strokes, as to cause the 

 tremor described, which may be heard reverberating, in a still morning, 

 to the distance of from a quarter to a half a mile. This curious signal 

 is repeated at intervals of six or eight minutes. The same sound is also 

 heard in autumn as well as in the spring, and is given by the caged bird 

 as well as the free, being, at times, merely an instinctive expression of 

 hilarity and vigor. The drumming parade of the male is often likewise 

 the signal for a quarrel ; and when they happen to meet each other in 

 the vicinity of their usual and stated walks, obstinate battles, like those 

 of our domestic fowls for the sovereignty of the dung-hill, but too com- 

 monly succeed.' (Manual of Ornithology, Land Birds, second edition, 

 pp. 96 and 97.) 



" Most writers follow Audubon and Nuttall in saying that the drum- 

 ming is produced by striking the wings against the body ; but, from 

 the accounts given me by reliable sportsmen, there is no doubt that the 

 above high authorities are in error. Wilson, as will be seen above, 

 does not say that the wings are struck against the body, though it is 

 somewhat uncertain whether he meant to say so or not, since the rest of 

 his descriptiou is, substautially, that of Audubon and Nuttall. 



" My esteemed friend, Mr. H. W. Heushaw, of Cambridge, Massachu- 

 setts, has furnished me with what I believe to be a reliable account of 

 the manner in which the drumming is produced. His authorities are 

 his father and Mr. William Brewster, of Cambridge — the latter an ac- 

 complished sportsman, whose statements 1 can vouch for myself. Mr. 

 Henshaw describes the drumming process as follows : 



" The bird sits crosswise upon the log, resting upon the ba<}k of the 



