. The birds of Washington; a complete, scientific and popular account of the 372 species of birds found in the state . ns iu Marcii. when the male Ing ^ hoot. Thisoperation is conducted chielly in the trees, but as the season advances and love-making iKcomes tuore earnest, the birds resort to the ground or chm>sc stations THE SOOTY GROUSE. 573 on some prominent stump or bowlder. Tlie bird, as a rule, is one of the mostphlegmatic of fowls, and his courting antics, grotesque enough in themselves,are conducted with a gra\ity which makes them even more absurd. Whateverthe birds situation in hoo
. The birds of Washington; a complete, scientific and popular account of the 372 species of birds found in the state . ns iu Marcii. when the male Ing ^ hoot. Thisoperation is conducted chielly in the trees, but as the season advances and love-making iKcomes tuore earnest, the birds resort to the ground or chm>sc stations THE SOOTY GROUSE. 573 on some prominent stump or bowlder. Tlie bird, as a rule, is one of the mostphlegmatic of fowls, and his courting antics, grotesque enough in themselves,are conducted with a gra\ity which makes them even more absurd. Whateverthe birds situation in hooting, the air-sacs of the throat, chest, and neck, arefirst inflated. These parts are capable of enormous distension, inso-much that the total bulk of the sacs, together with their covering feathers, dur-ing excitement, exceeds that of the body itself. The hooting, or gruntingnotes, of this Grouse are among the lowest tones of Natures thorobase, beingusually about C of the First Octa\-e, but ranging from E Flat down to B Flatof the Contra Octa\-e. Hoot, hoot, hoot, tu-hoot. the legend runs, altho there. Tabttt near TiicoHui. Photo by the Author. A NEST IN THE FIR WOODS. is a prefatory note of the same cliaracter wdiich is inaudible at a distance: andthe bird not infrecjuently adds another at the end, after the slightest apprecia-ble pause, as tho he required a fraction of a second in which to recover fromthe effort of the double note. There is in the act of utterance a correspondingpulsation of the air sacs, but these can serve only as a sounding board, for thenoise is made in the syrinx, and may be passably imitated in that of a freshly-killed specimen by placing the thumb and forefinger over the apertures, andblowing at the proper intervals thru the entering windpipe. The sound mayalso be well reproduced by the human voice, and we have oftended many ahooter ere now by challenging in his preserves. 574 1111. S( )( >rv C.\i( )ISK. As till- lnKiicr iKcuincs vehemen
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Keywords: ., bookauthordaws, bookcentury1900, bookdecade1900, booksubjectbirds
