HEATH HEN 271 



a comfortable position and occasionally uttered a long-drawn-out 

 but shrill cry, which fluctuated greatly in tone and intensity. One 

 bird arose after a few minutes, circled, paced a few steps, and went 

 through his repertoire of toots and calls without any interference 

 from his antagonist. Later one ambitious male insisted on chasing 

 one opponent after another, following after them rapidly on foot 

 until they took wing. He flew after them for a distance of 30 to 50 

 yards, then returned to repeat the performance with another weaker 

 member of the group of a dozen birds. It reminded one of boys at 

 play after being pent up in school all day. These thrilling spectacles 

 continued until 6.50 a. in., when with one common impulse all the 

 birds left the field to the seclusion of the scrub oaks to remain quiet 

 until the afternoon, when they again appeared on the drumming field 

 during the few hours preceding sunset. But when the last glow of 

 twilight faded into darkness the fantastic dance ceased to be resumed 

 at the coming of dawn the next day." 



The first " tooting " calls of the year were usually heard the last 

 week of February or the first week of March, the date varying from 

 year to year and depending largely on the nature of the weather. 

 In 1927 a series of warm days started the birds booming as early as 

 February 12. Though an early beginning was sometimes made it was 

 not until the latter part of April or the first week of May that the 

 courtship reached its maximum intensity. It then gradually dimin- 

 ished, and by the end of May the performance was generally over, 

 but a few more persistent males often continued a few weeks longer. 

 In 1923 the last " boom " for the year was recorded on June 11 ; and 

 in 1920 a small group of males was still performing as late as June 

 20. After the month of June the birds ceased their nuptial displays 

 until the mating season of the next year. 



The following details of the courtship performance were obtained 

 by repeated observations from blinds of the birds at close range and 

 are supplemented by a study of captive birds and detailed labora- 

 tory dissections: The tooting is usually prefaced by a short run, 

 followed by a very rapid stamping of the feet, a part of the per- 

 formance that is not readily detected unless the observer is very 

 near to the birds. The stamping is vigorous enough, however, to be 

 distinctly heard at a distance of 25 or 30 feet, and certain males, 

 which did their stamping on the resonant roof of the blind, produced 

 a noise second only to the tooting that followed. In preparation 

 for tooting the neck is outstretched forward; the pinnae (neck tufts) 

 are usually directed upward or forward; the primaries are spread 

 and held firmly against the sides of the body and legs; and the tail 

 is thrown upright at right angles to the axis of the body, thus dis- 

 playing the white under tail coverts when viewed from the rear- 



