FEATHERED ATHLETES 81 



Cock pheasants will allow no rivals on their 

 grounds; each has his own drive, and when a rival 

 appears a battle follows and the victor is left in 

 possession of the run. 



Terrible conquests are waged by the various 

 species of the grouse. If the female has two or 

 three suitors, a rough-and-tumble battle ensues 

 while she runs about the battle-ground watching 

 its progress with interest. These fights have been 

 known to last for two or three hours, and not until 

 the ground is covered with feathers, and one of the 

 warriors killed, do they cease. 



Sometimes strategy is resorted to in winning a 

 battle, as in the case of Keinhardt's ptarmigan, who 

 lures his enemy away from the female bird, and 

 then suddenly rushes back to her. They disappear 

 together ; or if she refuses to flee with him, the bat- 

 tle with his opponent is vigorously renewed, and 

 fought to a finish, with a bride as a reward. 



The weapons used by pugilistic birds are as nu- 

 merous as they are varied. There are claws, 

 beaks, spurs, and slugs, in the form of feet, which 

 are very formidable. The cassowary can leap and 

 kick with almost the force of a colt. Numerous 

 eagles have such terrible claws that they can swoop 

 down upon a young goat or lamb and almost in- 

 stantly kill it, or pick up the young of deer and fly 



