THE OREGON SPORTSMAN 



93 



THE OREGON RUFFED GROUSE 



A Drummer of the Deep Woods, Called Partridge in the North 

 and Pheasant in the South and West 



|HE drumming of the Ruffed Grouse is a 

 sound dear to all woods' lovers. When 

 drumming the bird stands at full height 

 and beats its wings rapidly towards its 

 sides. It begins slowly and seems to work 

 up speed until in the end it is a rapid 

 whir. This drumming of the grouse is 

 [ heard not only during the spring, but 

 frequently I have heard it in September 

 and October. I remember on October 20, 

 1914, when over in Tillamook county, I 

 heard a Ruffed Grouse drumming in the 

 deep woods. I tried to sneak up slowly to where I thought the 

 bird was, but after going for fifty yards, I seemed to be no 

 nearer but the sound seemed to come from another direction. 

 In fact, it was so elusive and uncertain I could not tell exactly 

 where it was. 



On May 19, 1909, I found the nest of a Ruffed Grouse about 

 eight miles south of Portland near the bank of the Willamette 

 River. When I found the nest, the eggs were just beginning to 

 hatch. The mother had been disturbed by some men cutting trees 

 for a roadway. She slipped off the nest when I approached but 

 stayed in the bushes nearby, making a sound exactly like the 

 whining of a puppy. A little bit later she came to me boldly as 

 if to frighten me away, but when she got within a few feet she 

 seemed to lose courage. She spread her feathers and fluttered 

 her wings and then retreated to the cover of a large log. The 

 nest was at the foot of an alder tree. One of the eggs? was just 

 hatching and the chick was halfway out. Several other eggs were 

 pipped. I went away and returned in an hour's, time and found 

 seven of the chicks were out of the shell. The other two eggs 

 were cut around so that the chicks were ready to come out. It 

 seemed as if the hatching of every egg had been timed like clock- 

 work. 



