The Courting of Birds 



the same attitude, although she has no hackle or 

 fans to give her an excuse. 



The ruff {Pavoncella pugnax) makes the best 

 possible use of his upper and breast plumes by 

 expanding them to the utmost and bending down 

 his head till his bill almost touches the ground ; 

 this is an exaggeration of his fighting position, in 

 which the head is merely lowered ; and his little 

 consort, the reeve, who is as pugnacious in her 

 way as he is, shows her belligerent feelings in 

 the same way, in spite of her lack of feathery 

 embellishment. 



No bird is more celebrated for its display than 

 the peacock, but it is not generally known that 

 this ostentatious disposition is not confined to 

 the adult male in full pride of plumage, but also 

 occurs under other circumstances. The young 

 peacock will show off in the orthodox position 

 long before he has a vestige of the train, and 

 the display may be given even by the hen. 

 Most remarkable of all, I have seen a pea- 

 chick not larger than a fowl throw itself into 

 full show position when startled by a cat pass- 

 ing near it. So with the turkey ; every one 

 knows the bristling feathers, erected fan-like 

 tail, and drooping wings of this most bumptious 

 of birds ; but any emotion, angry as well as 

 amorous, will throw him into this position, and 

 his ordinarily meek spouse will assume it when 



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