Identifier: cu31924022528685 (find matches)
Title: The birds of Ohio; a complete scientific and popular description of the 320 species of birds found in the state
Year: 1903 (1900s)
Authors: Dawson, William Leon, 1873- Jones, Lynds, b. 1865
Subjects: Birds
Publisher: Columbus, The Wheaton Publishing Co.
Contributing Library: Cornell University Library
Digitizing Sponsor: MSN

View Book Page: Book Viewer
About This Book: Catalog Entry
View All Images: All Images From Book
Click here to view book online to see this illustration in context in a browseable online version of this book.

Text Appearing Before Image:
esAt first, then fast and faster, till at lengthThey pass into a murmur, and are still. The purpose of this extraordinary music is well known; it is to attractthe female and guide her to the tryst. It is not, however, certainly knownwhether the bird is monogamous or not. Bendire thinks he is. On the otherhand, Henry William Herbert once saw seven hen birds grouped about a strut-ting male. And seven women shall take hold of one man in that day, saying,We will eat our own bread and wear our own apparel; only let us be calledby thy name; take thou away our reproach. Various theories have been advanced as to the real method of sound pro-duction in drumming. The reverberating sounds were long supposed to bedue to the impact of the wings upon the breast. A very creditable imitationmay be produced by a sound-winded man .who pounds upon his lungs withclenched fists. Others affirmed that the ictus was made by the contact ofwings as they met over the back. Bendire says: It is generally conceded
Text Appearing After Image:
THE PRAIRIE HEN. 435 now by most naturalists, including such well-known ornithologists as Brewster,Merriam and Henshaw, that the sound is produced by the outspread wingsof the bird being suddenly brought downward against the air, without strikinganything. Another noisy surprise is in store for the person who comes upon amother Partridge with a brood of tender chicks. With a great outcry themother bird charges up in front of the intruder, or dashes into his face; thenstands before him with flashing eyes and ruffled feathers looking fierce enoughto eat him up. Thus she holds the enemy at bay for one bewildered moment,—a precious moment, in which her tiny darlings are finding shelter. Then shecollapses like a struck tent and vanishes in a trice. A diligent search maydiscover a chick under a fallen leaf, or between two pieces of bark, but noliving man can find an entire brood in this way. The Rufifed Grouse is still not uncommon in the hilly counties in thesouthern and eastern portions

Note About Images