114 THE ARCTURUS ADVENTURE 



bird bowed deeply and quickly three times. With- 

 out an instant's delay they next crossed bills and 

 with quick, vibrating movements of the head, they 

 fenced — there is absolutely no other word for it 

 — with closed mandibles. Without warning my 

 bird ceased and again shot his head high up info 

 the air. Its mate instantly turned her head and 

 neck far sideways and held them motionless 

 and concealed from my point of view, close to 

 the left wing and side. Then another double bow 

 and a second bout. Next, both birds rested, look- 

 ing quietly around as though nothing unusual were 

 in progress, when the mate gave the stretching cue 

 in her turn, and there followed a long bout of the 

 fencing, this time my bird with widely opened 

 mandibles, the other's beak even entering its mouth 

 once or twice. For five minutes this performance 

 kept up, when a third bird approached, bowed and 

 engaged my albatross. This was only half-hearted 

 however, and the third individual soon waddled 

 painfully away, and the first two resumed the as- 

 tonishing ritual. 



I walked over to the third bird and bowed 

 deeply and to my delight it bowed in return. See- 

 ing no rapier bill, however, it solemnly walked 

 away, until I again faced it and bowed when it 

 returned my salutation twice and took a step 

 toward me. That, alas, was as near as we could 

 come to an engagement, but I shall never forget 

 my amenities with this feathered D'Artagnan of 

 Hood Island. 



This intricate performance has been described 



