The Durham daily globe. (Durham, N.C.) 1889-1894, 1893-08-21
THE DRUMMING OF GROUSE.

ProG3"cd b, Eseating the Wings Together
i,apidiy Above the Back.
Upon a sunshiny April day an angler,
whipping q woodland stream, heard a
strange. rumbling sound. Mistaking it
for distant thunder. he glanced at the
blue sky. puzzled. Soon it sounded
| again. and listening intentlv he di>tin-
| guishcd, first. an indistinct thump,
another. and still another. and hen a
mufhed roll gradually dying away. 1t
was the drumming of the ruttied grouse.
Perhaps no sound thai assails the
spOrtSman's ears has provoked more
discussion, One-half the observers hold
ing hat the bird produces the sound by
striking its wings against its breast,
the other half that it drums with it's
wings upon the log on which it always
perches.
The angler stood without the pale Of
either theory and held to n of his
own. The fish were rising briSkly to
the fly spangling the silvery surface of
the stream, but here was the Oppor-
tunity he had long looked for. The
rod was abandoned, and with nOiSeleSs
tread he threaded the thicket. At reg
ular intervals the drumming was re-
peated, now nearer and low it seemed
to nave receded. When almost upon it
he found it difficult to locate the sound
accurately. 1t was ventrilOQuial. At
last he seemed to be within a few
hundred yards of it and as it
ceased he started again to creep
forward when his quick eye detected a
movement, and there, scarcely twenty
steps away, upon an old decaying log
strutted the bird. Back and forth he
marched pompously, his beautifully
notified plumage inflated, his appear
ance one of intense vanity. Somewhere
within a radius of half a mile his bevy
of brown wives are scattered through
the woods industriOusly keeping their
OWL counsel. While fOraging for foOd
each keeps an eye out for some secluded
depression in the ground or among the
gnarled roots of a tree where she may
shortly begin to deposit d dozen or
more buff-cOlOred eggs. But she will
keep the location of the nest a dark
secret, and cover it with leaves when
departing, for she knows that shattered
shells would greet her return if once it
was found by the vain-glorious tyrant
on the log.
That worthy pauseS in his pOmpOu5
strutting, his inflated appearance grows
even more strained, and the solitary
spectator to the performance INDUCES
a vague fear that he is about to share
the fate Of the aspiring frog in the
fable. His attitude is one Of intense
pride and fashion. With a quick move
ment his wings are lifted and the butts
fO11ch hove tho lirI-S ho,ly Will a
thump, again that quick upward sweep
and the butts of the wings again meet.
back to back. with a louder flap: again
the movement, and then so swift the
strokes, so rapid the movement
Of the birds wings, that the
eye failed to follow. and their
shape disappeared in a fan of light AMI
the sound became a muffied roll which
lasted for some seconds and gradually
decreased in volume: the strokes of the
wings were shorter. but as rapid as
ever. As the sound ceased. the bird
dropped his wings in a trailing position
and once more resumed his Struttin@.
Never once did his wings touch the log
or his breast. The 1ir>t three or four
flaps were slow. at regular intervals,
and plainly visible. They We're made
precisely as a rooster flaps his wings
preparatory to crowing-by striking the
butts Of the wings together above his
back. The entire succession Of sounds
was made in the same ranner-thc
movement simply increased in rapiditv
by the immense muscular power of the
grou>c'> wings. Another interval of
dress parade and again the grouse be-
gan his reveille.
The angler in the intensity % his in
terest and in the belief Of the birds
pr~eOccupatiOn leaned forward. Like 4
flash the inflated mass OF feathers was
converted into a compact BODY with
keen head extended, and bright avcs
riveted for a on the INTRUDER.
The ext moment there was a startling
"whirr-rr,." and the writer was eft
alone in the woods with the recollection
OF a rare spectacle-a discovery IN
natural historv.-Rod, Gun and Kennel.
G. NJ. HARDIN. JR,,