THE DRUMMING OF THE RUFFED GROUSE- 
I Editor American Field; — The pages of the American 
Field always contain something interesting to me. I beg, 
however, to dlfler with Old Dominion in part at least re- 
garding the above bird. The opportunities I have had dur- 
ing forty or more years to observe this bird are or have been 
such that I could hardly be mistaken as to its position while 
in the act of drumming. Instead of its being prone upon 
the log its body is stretched to its full extent and it stands 
as it would seem upon its toes. When about to commence 
it raises its head high and elevates its body so that its wings 
may not touch the log. Its first several motions are slow, 
with a very slight halt between the first and second stroke, 
but from that to the end the blows are quickened. I have 
often wondered how the bird could stay upon the log; it 
would seem as if the motions of its wings would raise its 
body upward and backward. I have often thought that it 
must have a grip upon the bark or moss to hold itself down, 
but I have never been able to convince myself that such 
was the case, nor am I satisfied that it is not so, and will 
leave that for others to discover. 
, I have noticed that the tune is not changed, whether the 
j bird is drumming upon a sound log or a decayed one. If 
Old Dominion would see one of these birds drumming with 
its breast toward him, he would be convinced that the log 
would not suffer much. As regards the drumming season, 
I would say, it drums most in the Spring time, but I have 
heard it drum in every month of the year excepting Decem- 
ber and January. I have heard it drum all hours of the 
night, particularly in rainy weather. Why it drums we 
will leave to the learned. I am fully convinced that the 
female does not drum, both from my own observation and 
the allegations of others; but I think Nature has fixed it so 
that the ruffed grouse must drum, the owl must hoot, the 
rooster must crow, and the robin and other birds must 
sing, and the woodpecker does his drumming with 
his bill upon a dry limb or sliver ; it may be a love call 
or it may be a challenge ; again it may be for amusement 
only, but at no time in my long watches have I ever seen a 
hen attracted by the drumming, and again I have seen the 
male birds drumming industriously when not over thirty 
yards apart, without any apparent disposition to fight. 
I will not bother your readers with minute details. I 
never thought of appearing in the public press, but have 
been led by a desire to satisfy my own curiosity only, and 
I no doubt studied the bird more than I did the school book 
which, however, was a rare article here in those days, much 
more rare th an the ruffed grouse, so that my chances of ob- 
servation were in favor of the latter. But I don’t want to 
go back to those old days ; it might lead to evidence which 
would be self convicting in the eyes of some of the present- 
day sportsmen, who have perhaps never experienced the 
real pains of necessity or enjoyed a nice venison steak in 
June or July. 
Now my dear friend. Old Dominion, may your light 
burn bright for many years yet, so that you may see to 
write us oflen, but don’t go hunting on horseback as that is 
impracticable here about. Keggy. »' 
^ -Huntingdon, Pa. 
Editor American Eield : — As I h.av6 spent many pleas- 
ant hours hunting the ruffed grouse, the articles from grouse 
hunters, that have appeared from time to time in your valu- 
able paper, have been of great interest to me. In reading 
the articles on mountain grouse, in the American Field of 
December 31, the writer says, “The ruffed grouse is as 
familar to me as a barnyard fowl,” and then goes on to 
make the erroneous statement that the sound in drumming 
is produced by the grouse beating his wings on a log. I am 
surprised that many old hunters are of this opinion. I have 
often crawled to within thirty feet of a drumming grouse 
and watched all his movements. Standing on a rock, stick 
or log, with body and head fully erect, he strikes his wings 
together, the stroke being forward and downward but never 
striking the object upon which he stands. The stroke, slow 
at first, is folloived by a succession of quick quivering ones. 
After drumming, with feathers laid close to his body, he 
stands erect with every sense strained, listening for a return 
challenge. 
There are many things to be learned before one can be- 
come a successful grouse hunter in the hills and mountains 
of Pennsylvania, as the weather and seasons of the year are 
factors to be studied as well as to know where and how to 
look for them, and to top all the hunter should be a good 
snap shot. w. A. DeForrest. 
, 2>-^<i^-M,l%'«‘i‘^^J'EFEEHSON, TeXAS. 
Editor American Field R&ey Newton in your issue 
of December 31 comes to the front in a very good article 
on the grouse family, but, alas, I fear Roxey has not seen a 
ruffed grouse for a long time. He says : “His thump, 
thump, thump, etc., is done exclusively with his wings by 
beating upon a log.” When quite a boy I have often 
crawled within a few yards and watched Mr. Grouse on his 
log and have never seen one strike the log with the wing ; 
I have seen them drum on the ground and while perched 
on a limb and the same noise is always produced. They 
may thump the log in Idaho but they never did in Missouri, 
Illinois or Arkansas. I have shot them in the above-named 
states. I am very sorry to say there are none in this great 
state of Texas. 
We have very fine quail shooting in this state, especially 
the eastern and southern portions. At this point there is 
the finest duck shooting to be found ahywherFin the state, 
away from the coast. We are cursed here as elsewhere 
with the pot-hunter, but his days are numbered and I think 
they are very few. I intend to report the first duck hunt 
of the season, that brother sportsmen may know something 
of a good day’s sport in Texas. With a Winchester shotgun 
and plenty of shells loaded by the company for ducks 
stationed at points near this place on the lake, many would 
say they never knew what sport was before. Ranger. . 
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