BENEATH TROPIC SEAS 



his dance of life. He seemed to be on an invisible 

 tight-rope, such as Rackham would have strung of 

 cobwebs for fairies. In fact I peered over a leaf 

 to persuade myself that he was not actually bal- 

 ancing on some slender, horizontal twig. Through- 

 out the next ten minutes he did not vary a half 

 inch up or down, along a line about a foot in 

 length. 



The dance began with a rhythmical twisting 

 from side to side, his head always facing the object 

 of his devotion, an apparent limbering up of his 

 small being. With the fourth or fifth twist, his 

 whole attitude changed. While the haze of wings 

 kept its position, his body rose slowly into a nearly 

 erect posture; his long, curved bill was slightly 

 raised and the conspicuously pale wire of a tongue 

 thrust far out, continuing the curve of the man- 

 dibles and almost doubling their apparent length. 

 The tail gradually lifted until it was almost up- 

 right, feathers widely spread, peacock fashion. 

 The tiny legs were at the same time slowly 

 stretched downward to their full length, and the 

 band of white down on each puffed out. Between 

 them, the fluffy under tail-coverts had separated 

 completely from the upraised tail feathers, and 

 joined with the leg ruffs to form a solid fluffy -white 

 band across this aerial vision. 



So steady did this bird keep that every featherlet 

 on its body was visible. The wings were a faint 

 grey blur and gave forth a hum which rose slightly 

 at each turn. The air which these living pro- 



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