thinking that he had driven the rascal out 



of his woods. He strutted back and forth 



on the log, trailing his wings, spreading wide 



his beautiful tail, lifting his crest and his ^eOI Beech 



resplendent ruff. Suddenly he would draw ^latrio^e 



himself up; there would be a flash of his 



wings up and down that no eye could follow, 



and I would hear a single throb of his drum. 



Another flash and another throb ; then faster 



and faster, till he seemed to have two or 



three pairs of wings, whirring and running 



together like the spokes of a swift-moving 



wheel, and the drumbeats rolled together into 



a long call and died away in the woods. 



Generally he stood up on his toes, as a 

 rooster does when he flaps his wings before 

 crowing; rarely he crouched down close to 

 the log; but I doubt if he beat the wood 

 with his wings, as is often claimed. Yet the 

 two logs were different; one was dry and 

 hard, the other mouldy and moss-grown ; and 

 the drum-calls were as different as the two 

 logs. After a time I could tell by the sound 

 which log he was using at the first beat of 

 his wings ; but that, I think, was a matter of 



