Page:The Singing Tree - William Henry Mousley - The Auk 36(3) - P0339-p0348.pdf/1

Vol. XXXVI 1919

The sound to which the Grouse gave instant and invariable attention was the alarm note of the Blue Jay. To the scolding of Robins and even to the cawing of Crows he turned a deaf ear, but the protesting voice of a Jay hushed the sound of the drum note, and a period of silent waiting ensued, during which interval he was evidently at some pains to discover the cause of the Jay's displeasure.

There was a time, when the spring drumming of the Grouse thundered from a hundred hills, woke the echoes like the throbbing tom-tons of tribes upon the war-path and sent the blood sap pulsing quicker along the veins; but laws are useless where they are not enforced, and unless the Ruffed Grouse is given a greater measure of protection, the woods will no longer hear his footfall that might for years have thrilled to the vigorous ardor of his wings.

attention was first drawn to this interesting subject by my inability to find the nesting sites of warblers, although regarding other species I was more than ordinarily successful. I must admit I was discouraged but not surprised, for to find the nests of these interesting little gems has always been more or less of a gamble to the students of the family Mniotiltidæ. Of course there are red letter days when by accident one sees a female with building material fly direct to the nesting site, but these are generally few and far between, and in my experience one hardly ever sees the females until the nests are discovered. It is the males that are always in evidence, not only during the nesting season, but also at migration times, and I can well remember the day when the