DANCERS 53 



the earth, elevating their beautiful tails, these male 

 ballet-dancers waltz round and round each other, 

 whirling sometimes one way, sometimes another. 

 Suddenly they arise, inflate their bodies like small 

 balloons and assume the most soldier-like attitudes ; 

 slowly, like important dignitaries exchanging cour- 

 tesies, they move around in groups, advancing and 

 retiring with dignity befitting the occasion. Oc- 

 casionally they chatter to each other, as if in praise 

 of their wonderful achievements, or perhaps it is to 

 encourage to better efforts some awkward member 

 of the ballet! 



These "chicken stamping grounds," as they are 

 called in the West, are often used for several sea- 

 sons. Unless the birds are disturbed they return 

 to the same courting grounds indefinitely. West- 

 erners tell us that occasionally the same spot has 

 been used for their dances so long that small runs 

 or roads are made to it from all directions. These 

 ballrooms are invariably located in good feeding 

 districts, and are frequently near rivers. 



A cousin of the cranes and herons, the hammer- 

 head, lives in Africa and Madagascar. He is an 

 unusually talented bird, being a skilled architect, 

 an astronomer, and a clever dancer. He is about 

 the size of a small raven, and builds his gigantic 

 mansion, sometimes six feet in diameter, on a rocky 



