Q92 
THE AMERICAN FIELD 
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the poplars I have mentioned, comparatively free from un- 
derbrush where I was pretty sure to find my game and 
where I used to try my first experiments at shooting these 
grouse on the wing. But it was for a long time, a bushel 
of experiments to a single grain of success. Once in a 
while, if my bird flew right, I would knock it down. But 
the ruffed grouse is more likely to fly wrong for the sports - 
man than any bird I know. If there are trees about, as 
there almost always are, it will manage to wind around 
among them, spirally or zig-zag, so as to keep them between 
you and it, though it will sometimes make a bee-line 
straight away from you, and pretty close to the ground ; and 
what is still more curious, if this bird rises on the sides or 
near the brow of a hill, the chances are it will dart like an 
arrow, and about as swift, straight down hill. 
While on the subject of this bird’s flight, I may as well 
here take occasion to remark, that nothing shows the 
shrewdness and keenness of observation with which that 
grand old man, Audubon, pursued his investigations into 
the habits of the feathered races, than what he tells us 
about the two kinds of wing-power the partridge exerts un- 
der contrary circumstances. It is like a new discovery in 
science — is, in fact, a new discovery in science. He assures 
us that the grouse, when startled from its resting-place on 
the ground, and taking wing through fear, invariably goes 
through the air with the whirring sound, which in the gen- 
eral estimation of the world always accompanies its flight. 
But he likewise informs us that when this bird rises on the 
wing, of its own accord, and not under the influence of fear, 
its flight is as noiseless as any other bird’s. There can be 
no doubt on this point ; and after reading, years ago, what 
the "great ornithologist says about it, I could easily recall 
instances to verify his statement. I will mention one in 
particular, while we are still on old breezy Windmill. It 
is a notable instance, in more senses than one, inasmuch as 
it illustrates the principle of well-doing which dominates 
the hunter’s soul, particularly where it jumps so strongly 
with his inclination. At the solicitation of a very sick 
lady, who sent word to W. B., then a lad, but even then 
no novice in the use of the gun, if she could 
only have a soup compounded of partridge and 
squirrel, such as I had been in the habit 
of making her a present of from time to time, she was cer- 
tain it would cure her. I hurried away to Windmill Hill, 
on the sides of which was a clump of large old gnarled 
oaks, where I felt confident I could secure one ingredient 
of the wished-for soup, since I scarcely ever went there 
without finding one or more gray squirrels, rocking up and 
down on the oak limbs to pluck the acorns. Determined 
not to leave the spot until the squirrels came out, I secreted 
myself in the bushes, where I had not been half an hour 
before I saw one partridge after another come flying down 
on the ground, not far off, as quiet aid silent as sunbeams. 
I could not believe my eyes at first, since I heard not even 
the slightest rustle or whirr of their wings, as I expected 
to, and I looked at them long and wistfully before I could 
make up my mind I was not mistaken in their identity. 
When completely satisfied on this point, I had a couple of 
them fluttering in the agonies of death before me, while 
the rest took wing with the usual whirring sound. It is 
needless to add that, by dint of watching my faithful old 
oaks till near sundown, they yielded me a pair of squirrels; 
and I went home happy as a lord at having found the med- 
icine which Mrs. M— , to my intense delight, afterward ac- 
knowledged to me had saved her life. I have several times 
since verified, in the same way, Audubon’s statement as to 
this double flight of the partridge. And here let me take 
occasion to say that the bird-student who shall see with 
clearer vision, and study with more passionate earnestness 
and exactness into the character and habits of a race the 
most difflouit of all to study and comprehend, and who 
shall paint them with a more magical pencil, or write about 
them with a more magical pen than this splendid old 
American naturalist, has yet to be born, and very likely 
never will be born. Never did astronomer watch the stars 
by night through “ his glazed optic tube,” with more zeal, 
more enthusiasm, more fidelity to truth, and with more, real 
genius, to tell their story to a wondering world than this 
marvelous bird-gazer to tell the story of American birds, 
while yet the whole subject was in its infancy, wrapt in 
doubt, obscurity and the mists of fable, crossing pathless 
deserts to do it, often alone in the midst of wild beasts and 
Indians, exposing himself to hunger, fatigue and danger, 
often lying down at night in the forest, in a single blanket, 
wet with rain, and shivering with cold. All honor then to 
the great American explorer, thus led by the true hunter’s 
passion, to snatch from the wilderness, the forests and the 
mountains, their winged inhabitants, to portray them to the 
life by his matchless pen and pencil—to make them as famil- 
iar as household words to all future generations. To catch an 
idea of the man you have only to look at any good picture 
of this rare genius — see what an eye he has, capable, one 
would think, of taking in at a single glance the whole of 
animated nature, that noble brow, Instinct with thought, 
imagination and intellect, together with fire, resolution and 
the audacity of genius written in every line of those ex- 
pressive features. 
Of the few yet disputed and undetermined points about 
the characteristics of the ruffed grouse, the knottiest one is 
that relating to the male’s drumming faculty. For a long 
time the hollow log theory prevailed, and we thought of this 
cock of the walk as a drummer boy, sitting on his chosen 
drum-log in the depths of the forest, and banging it with 
his wings instead of drum-sticks ; something after the man- 
ner of those sturdy preachers of the time of Hudibras (not 
entirely gone out of fashion in our day) who mount the 
“ pulpit, drum eccleeiastic. 
Which they beat with fist iustead of a stick.” 
That theory exploded, the next one advanced was that the 
bird’s body was the drum instead of the hollow log, still 
beaten by the wings ; and then it was conjectured that the 
sounds were produced by the rapid movements of the bird’s 
wings alone, something like the stridulating sounds pro- 
duced by certain insects. Now, as theorizing is the order 
of the day on this mooted point, I wiil venture a new solu- 
tion of the riddle, which, it appears to me, is more plausi- 
ble than any of the rest : It is that the drumming sounds of 
the partridge are made by a simultaneous combination of 
wing movement and the use of the ordinary vocal organs of 
birds. It is scarcely conceivable that such loud sounds can 
be the product of the wings alone. If the ruffed, like his 
cousin the sage-cock or the pinnated grouse, was possessed 
of the inflatable air-sac, there would be no difliculty in de- 
termining the question ; but in the absence of such a wind- 
instrument as that, is it unreasonable to ascribe the loud 
thunder of his drumming, not to the vibrations of the wings 
alone (for these seem incapable of making it) but to the 
conjoint action of the muscular force of the wings and of 
the “inferior larynx,” which is the special avian organ of 
sound '? It is not probable that this special organ is con- 
signed to an “innocuous desuetude,” in the case of the 
partridge, any more than in the rest of birds; and if ever 
he would employ it, it would be when, strutting around on a 
log or on the ground, lowering his wings and spreading out 
his great fan of a tail, he tried to attract the attention of 
the femaiesof his tribe, or perhaps show his belligerent pro-, 
pensities toward the males. Hence I claim that, while 
this point, like so many others relating to the ways of birds, 
does not seem to admit of being reduced to absolute cer- 
tainty, the drumming of the partridge is made with two 
instruments instead of one alone — it is vocal as well as 
“wingful.” 
What commends the ruffed grouse particularly to sports- 
men is, first, the skill required in shooting it, and, second, 
its diversified and extensive range and habitat. The first of 
these difficulties, of which I have already spoken, is very 
much enhanced by the bird’s unsocial habits, constraining 
it to go in small coveys, and by its seldom springing up be- 
fore you except in densely wooded districts, and oftenest 
through grounds overgrown with thickets and underbrush. 
This latter consideration, taken in connection with its swift 
and irregular flight, makes it the hardest of all winged tar- 
gets to hit. It is found dispersed over the whole continent 
from the Atiantic to the Pacific, and seems to thrive in all 
climates and latitudes. Nor do the influences of climate, 
over such an immense stretch of territory, work such 
changes in the bird’s character and coloration as we might 
be led to suppose. It is everywhere the same rufous-taiied 
species, with plumage varying from light-brown to mottled 
with darker brown and even black. It everywhere makes 
its home in the thick dark woods, preferring the highlands 
and the umbrageous shelter of the conifirae, if they can be 
found. 
Where is the heart so cold and so dead to the quickening 
impulses of Nature that has not bounded at seeing this 
graceful bird, so full of spirit and hanteur, when undis- 
turbed, standing erect or moving along with a slow and 
solemn pace ; but “when the dry leaf rustles in the brake,” 
stepping with a quick majestic tread, and, it it finds no con- 
venient place of refuge, darting through the air with swift- 
est pinions ? As I recall early scenes and images, it seems 
to me no other bird has afforded me so many happy days — 
no other bird so often darts across my imagination, when I 
think of the October woods, with their keen frosty air and 
balsamic odors. 
' “ And thy whirring wings I hear. 
When the colored ice is warming 
The twigs ol the forest sere— 
When the Northern wind’s a-storming.” 
And methinks I could cross the dark river with more sat- 
isfaction, dear bird of my boyhood, if I could make sure 
of meeting thee once more in the happy future hunting- 
grounds, and hear the rustle of thy ’swift-rushing wings. 
Chicago, lil. 
, UNUSUAL NESTING SITES. 
Mu ■ , xy; y; I /., Jfe . 3‘^ 3 .. 
BY WALTER E. BRYANT. 
One of the interesting features of the study of oology is 
the selection of strange nesting sites made by many birds 
when the circumstances of their environment compel a de- 
parture from their customary habits. This is especially no- 
ticeable in certain tree building species, which avail them- 
selves of low bushes and sometimes even the ground in the 
absence of trees. 
During a recent trip to Carson, Nev., and vicinity, I was 
particularly impressed by the unusual and novel situation 
which had been chosen by birds whose nesting habits were 
well known. These had adapted themselves to various sit- 
uations, the mention of which, together with instances 
noted from other localities where choice rather than cir- 
cumstances seemingly prompted the departures, may be in- 
teresting. 
California Partridge {OalUpepla calif arnica). — Essentially 
a ground building species, but several cases have come to 
my notice of its nesting in trees upon the upright end of a 
broken or decayed limb or at the intersection of two large 
branches. A few years ago a brood was hatched and safely 
conducted away from a vine-covered trellis at the front 
door of a popular seminary. How the parent birds man- 
aged to get the tender young down to the ground is not 
known. 
Red-shafted Flicker {Oolaptes cafer). — Three instances 
are recalled when this species nested in unusual places. 
One of these was in a bridge bulkhead a few feet above the 
Carson River. The interior of the structure was filled with 
gravel and large stones, amongst which the eggs were de- 
posited. Another pair used a target butt at a much fre- 
quented range as a substitute for a stump. A third nest was 
in a sand-bank three feet from the top and ten from the 
creek. This hoie was apparentiy speciaily prepared, and 
not one made by a ground squirrel, such holes being some- 
times used by these birds. 
Calliope Hummingbird (Trochilui calliope). — A nest was 
found built upon a projecting splinter of a wood pile at a 
height of five feet. Another was secured to a rope within 
an outbuilding. 
Arkansas Kingbird {Tyrannus uertiaalis). — An old and 
much flattened nest of Bullock’s oriole was found relined 
and containing four kingbird’s eggs. One of the most re- 
markable instances of persistency in nest building was met 
with in the case of a pair of kingbirds which had attempted 
to construct a nest upon the outer end of a windmill fan. 
A horizontal blade had probably been first selected, but an 
occasional breath of air had slightly turned the mill, bring- 
ing into place another and another, upon each of which had 
been deposited the first material for a nest until several 
nests were in different stages of construction, varying with 
the time that the windmill had remained quiet, while upon 
the roof below was strewn a quantity of debris that had 
falien as the wheel revolved. Of course nothing but failure 
could be expected from their repeated attempts. 
Say’s Phcebe (Sayornis saya). — A nest which could be 
conveniently reached by a person on horseback was found 
by Mr. Walter Bliss at Carson, placed within and close to 
the entrance of a deserted bank swallow’s burrow. 
Brewer’s Blackbird {Scolecophagus cyanocephalus). — All 
the nests found at Carson were upon the ground, usually on 
the edge of a bank formed by an irrigating ditch, with the 
exception of one which was built two feet from the ground 
upon dry tule and well hidden by the growing stems. 
Crimson House-Finch {Oarpodacm frontalis rhodooolpus). 
— Besides the odd situations which they select about houses, 
they avail themselves of the last year’s nests of Bullock’s 
oriole. 
Parkman’s Wren {Troglodytes aedon parkmanii). — The 
species has been known to build in the skull of a horse, 
which had been placed in a fruit tree ; in the nests of cliff 
swallows, and within an old shoe lodged in a tree. 
Western Robin {Merula migratoria propinqua).—A. pair 
of robins built and reared a brood in a hanging basket sus- 
pended from the edge of the veranda at the residence of 
Mr. H. G. Parker at Carson, Nev. 
Western Bluebird {Sialia mexicana). — -Dr. Cooper informs 
me that he has known a bluebird to build in a cliff swal- 
iow’s nest. 
Mountain Bluebird {Sialia arctica). — Three incubated 
eggs of this species were taken from the nest of a barn 
swailow at Lake Tahoe, Cal., by Mr. Walter Bliss. 
European Sparrow {Passer dom,esticus).—^mc,e the intro- 
duction of this pest into our cities, many birds, hitherto 
common, have left for the suburbs, notably the cliff swal- 
ows, whose nests were appropriated by the sparrows . In 
these cases the limited space compelled the latter to dis- 
pense with the usual amount of rubbish, and carry in only a 
lining of feathers. 
San Francisco, Cal. 
Do Foxes Climb Trees? — Point Lick, Ky. — Editor Amer- 
can Field: — I have seen several articles lately in the Amer- 
ican Field in regard to foxes climbing trees. There is no 
doubt about gray foxes climbing trees, and the size or shape 
of the tree has nothing to do with it. They can climb any 
rough bark tree, no matter how large or straight ; but I 
have never seen a red fox on the outside of a standing tree. 
I have known many a one to go inside a hollow tree like a 
rabbit, but I do not think any fox hunter will sayAe has 
known one to go upon the outside. Another difference is, 
that, while it is not much trouble to make a gray come out 
of a hole with smoke, I have never been able to make a 
red come out yet, either out of a tree or from the ground. 
I would like some one better versed in fox lore than myself 
to explain why it is the male red foxes do not like to go in 
a hole during the latter part of the Winter. I catch more 
foxes then than in all the rest of the year put together, and 
the dogs catch them often close to a hole into which I 
know the fox could have gone had he wished. I scarcely 
ever catch a female fox at that time of the year. Last Win- 
ter I caught thirteen foxes from Christmas until March, and 
all of them were males. The dogs caught them all on the 
ground. E. H. W. 
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