Nests and Eggs of Birds of the United States / Illustrated

by Thomas G. Gentry

Like the common domestic Hen, these Grouse are strictly gregarious, especially during the autumnal and winter months. The flocks which they form vary in numbers, and when disturbed while feeding, scatter in all directions, each member seeking only its own individual safety and wellbeing. But after the lapse of a few minutes, they become reassured, and begin to gather simultaneously about the same spot, traveling the entire distance on foot. The utmost circumspection and vigilance are always exercised in these backward movements. Scarcity of food occasionally causes these birds, where very numerous in mountainous districts, to migrate to other places. These journeys are usually effected about the middle of October, they then being in excellent order and in great demand for the table. Audubon witnessed, in the fall of 1820, an immense number in transitu from Ohio, Indiana and Illinois, to Kentucky. Many of these became the prey of man, while their companions who had escaped destruction sought, with the return of Spring, their own cherished haunts. This disposition to lead a roving, migratory life, as a general thing, is not hereditary, and is seldom undertaken. Plenty of food is usually to be found in localities which these birds frequent, and the necessity does not exist. Where there is a paucity of appropriate food-stuffs, such as acorns, the seeds of the beech and of the various species of birch, they do not hesitate to devour the buds of the Mountain Laurel, which imparts a poisonous character to their flesh. When severely pressed by hunger, they feed upon dry bark, the insects that harbor in the creviced trunks and branches of trees, and even stray to the roads that wander through their gloomy retreats, and pick at the hard, frozen horse-droppings which they chance to encounter. But when Spring returns, and renews her bond of faith with mother Earth, they more than make up for their scanty winter fare, and feast with fastidious appetites upon the now tender and juicy buds of the black birch, which gives a peculiar and toothsome flavor to their flesh, that has acquired for them, in some localities, the name of Birch Partridge. For a brief spell every other interest is now absorbed in that of unrestrained feasting to which the sexes submit themselves with all the abandon of civilized humanity. The middle of March, or the close of the month devoted by the ancient Romans to purifications and fastings that precedes, when the weather is favorable, marks a change in their life. This era is announced by a loud druming noise which is everywhere to be heard. Standing upon a tall rock, or a fallen log, in some secluded woods or other locality, the author of this noise may be found. His altitude and demeanor must be observed to be appreciated. Once seen, he can never be forgotten. Arrayed in his new spring-suit, he is a being not to be despised. But this is not all. His beautifully-contracted neck, broad, expanded, fan-like tail, and elevated feather-tufts that ornament both sides of his neck, as he struts about with all the grace 'and dignity of some pompous lord or duke, render him of no mean importance, and add greatly to his attractiveness.

But it is its final actions that impress the beholder with wonder and admiration. The hitherto trailing wings now assume a condition of rigidity, and commence a firm, but slow, downward and forward movement, which steadily increases in power and rapidity, until the swiftly-vibrating wings appear only as a semi-circular outline of mist above the bird, thus giving rise to a sound which may be appropriately likened to the reverberations of distant, muttering thunder. These sounds are most generally heard during the cool hours of the morning, when the spirits are buoyant after a night of refreshing slumber. But as the day advances, they are less frequent, and irregular. So nicely can they be imitated, that many a bird is drawn to his doom, when advancing to meet a supposed antagonist.

As the drumming of the Ruffed Grouse is as often heard in fall as in spring, it has long been a mooted question as to its significancy as the call-note of the male during the breeding-period. But there cannot be the least doubt of the correctness of this interpretation, for we have the most incontestable proof of it in the responsive actions of the female. Nuttall is probably correct in ascribing the autumnal exhibition of the same wonderful power to self-gratification, and in affirming it to be, in many instances, "an instinctive expression of hilarity and vigor."

Besides the peculiar drumming sound which the males produce during the love-season, they give expression to vocal utterances which are no less remarkable. These are generally given forth when about to arise from the ground, and consist of two well-defined and characteristic notes. The first may be described as a sort of cackle, repeated several times in lively succession. The other, which closely follows in its wake, is a peculiar lisping whistle, which has not inaptly been compared to the cry of a young bird. These notes doubtless play a part in the reconcilement and bringing together of the sexes after their temporary separation.

While the courting-season continues, it is not an uncommon occurrence to find a single male in the midst of several females, before whom he is engaged in showing off his many good qualities and graces. In such a dilemma, it is no easy matter to make a selection. Enamored by so many, he is sometimes disposed to be gay and trifling, and to dally with the affections of some pure and simple-minded female. Thus we often find him carrying on the most cruel flirtations. But when he does bring himself earnestly down to the business of choosing a partner, he does not go about it in an uncertain, hesitating manner, but makes his selection with promptness and dispatch. The successful female, proud of the honor conferred, at the call of her lord, forsakes the group of unmarried sisters, and follows him wherever he listeth. The warmest tokens of affection and regard are lavished upon her, and woe to the rival who should appear upon the scene while these amours are being enacted. Should such an event come to pass, the intruder is at once assailed, and a long and bloody encounter ensues, which results in the death of one or other of the combatants, but never in the complete vanquishment of the defensive party. Instances are known where males have treated their first choice with cruel indifference, and ultimately deserted them. Such things could not otherwise be when the question of polygamy comes to be considered, for it is a fact that both birds are slightly promiscuous in their intercourse, although the tendency is more marked upon the part of the male.

The time of mating varies somewhat with climate, and with the conditions of the season. In the warm sections of the South it occurs late in March, or early in April. But further north where winter still lingers with frosty coldness, the latter month is well nigh verging to its close, or gliding into the succeeding period, before this essential business is thought of. But when it does happen, with but little waste of time, the female withdraws herself from the society of her partner, and repairs to a secluded spot in the midst of a woods, where usually beneath a clump of evergreen, or a pile of brush, or perhaps a fallen log or projecting rock, she hastily scratches a few dry leaves together for a nest. Here she deposits, one by one, in as many consecutive days, her complement of six to twelve eggs, and immediately enters upon the duties of incubation. In this she is alone, the male lending no assistance, not even indirectly by attending to her demands for food. While she is thus occupied, he seeks the company of others of his sex, with whom he remains until the young are nearly full-grown, when he joins the family, and dwells with it until spring. The period of incubation ranges from nineteen to twenty days.

When first hatched, the young follow their mother, and soon learn to comprehend her clucking call, as well as act responsively thereto. Few mothers are more devoted to their children, and it is a rare occasion to find one who is more courageous and wily in their defence. Let her family be surprised by friend or foe, a single note of alarm is all that is necessary to cause the brood to scatter, and with the most clever adroitness to hide themselves beneath a bunch of leaves or grass. So successfully is the concealment accomplished, that a careful and protracted search is often necessary to discover their whereabouts. Often when squatting by the roadside with her brood, the parent is taken unawares. This is the trial which she of all others seems to dread. To save her little ones she perils her own life by venturing upon an assault. Her first impulse is to fly at the face of the intruding party, but sober thought comes to her rescue, and teaches her the folly of such a course. She yields, and the very next moment we find her tumbling over and over upon the ground, apparently in the deepest distress, but soon to recover her self-possession in time to carry out the final piece upon the programme—a ruse in which lameness is imitated with wonderful ingenuity. While the mother is thus agitated, the birdlings are seen to scamper in every direction to places of shelter. Having accomplished her allotted part, the happy mother now flies away, and by her well-known cluck soon gathers her brood together. The cry of the young is a simple peet, which is heard repeatedly during feeding, but only occasionally while nestling. Their food consists of the seeds of various plants, and berries. While able to search for their own food, they derive considerable assistance from the mother.

Such cunning, wee creatures, when first they leave the egg, can only be compared with the young of our barnyard fowls. Dressed in a simple garb, they look but little like their parents. Above they show a uniform reddish-brown or rufous color, which fades into a rusty-white hue below. With the exception of a dusky streak which starts from the posterior part of the eye and crosses the auricular regions obliquely downward, and a whitish bill, they have nothing to diversify the monotony of their coloring. But when they have attained the age of four or five months, they show their heredity so plainly that their identity cannot be disputed or mistaken.

In the adult stage the tail is reddish-brown or gray above, with narrow bars of black. Terminally, it is crossed by a slender band of pale ash, which is preceded by a broader one of black, and this by another of an ashy color. The upper parts are ochraceous-brown, and finely mottled with grayish markings. The lower parts are chiefly white, with broad transverse bars of light brown, which are mostly hidden from view upon the abdomen. Upon the shoulders the shafts of the feathers have pale streaks, which exist in those of the wing-coverts. The upper tail-coverts and the wings are marked with pale grayish cordate spots, while the lower tail-coverts are pale ochraceous, each being provided with a terminal deltashaped spot of white, which is bordered with dusky. The neck-tufts are brownish-black. The male measures eighteen inches in length, and has a breadth of wings of seven and two-tenths inches. The tail is about seven inches long. The female is smaller than the latter, with similar colors, but has less prominent tufts upon the sides of the neck.

The eggs of this species are usually of a uniform dark cream color, but sometimes show a nearly pure-white ground. In most specimens there are no markings at all, but when they do occur, are either quite numerous and conspicuous, or few in number, and obscure. They are usually ovoidal, but forms are occasionally met with which are nearly spherical. Their average dimensions, as obtained from specimens from the most diverse localities, are about 1.64 to 1.18 inches. As far as we have been able to determine the species has never been known to produce more than a single brood. Usually nesting is performed on the ground, as shown in the cut, but instances are recorded by Samuels where the female has occupied a deserted Crow's nest, or the shelter of some tall broken trunk of a tree.