BLACK-TAILED GODWIT 305 



monial flight and its variations, (2) the joint flight, (3) the tail dis- 

 play, (4) the scrape ceremony, (5) the pursuit, (6) fighting, and (7) 

 coition. Taking these consecutively, the ceremonial flight is much 

 the commonest and most striking action during the courtship period 

 and is confined to the male alone. He rises at a steep angle with 

 quickly beating wings, uttering repeatedly a loud trisyllabic call, 

 tur-ee-tur. When a height of some 150 or 200 feet has been gained 

 the real ceremonial flight starts. The most obvious point about it is 

 the change of call — the quick trisyllable is suddenly replaced by a 

 lower-toned disjdlable, which may be represented by the letter gh? , u- 

 toe (or gi^utto, the Dutch name for godwit). 



This change was inevitable ; on no single occasion did we hear it in any way 

 departed from. The change in flight is equally notable. The quick beat of the 

 wings is suddenly slowed and is replaced by a succession of slow, clipping 

 strokes ; at the same time the wings are markedly bent downward just as those 

 of the redshank in some of his courtship flights. The tail is spread to the full 

 and is twisted round, first to one side and then to the other. Simultaneously the 

 whole body is tilted over in the same direction as the tail and the bird flaps 

 along with slow wing beats and body heeled over for 20 or 30 yards. Then the 

 tail is screwed over toward the other side, and the body heels over correspond- 

 ingly. Thus the performing bird flies along rolling from side to side and 

 repeating the gruito call continuously. We are, on the whole, inclined to 

 attribute it to the rudder action of the tail. 



The flight generally takes place within a circle of 150 to 300 yards 

 in diameter and about 200 feet up, but both direction and duration 

 are variable and Huxley has seen one bird " rolling " for over a mile 

 in a straight line, while another has come down after a dozen wing 

 strokes. The descent is even more striking; the rolling flight and 

 call stop simultaneously and the bird glides with rigid wings suddenly 

 nose-diving downwards with almost closed wings till about 50 feet 

 from the ground when the wings are opened and the godwit side- 

 slips in all directions. Just before alighting the wings are opened 

 and held vertically for a second or two afterwards. Another method, 

 occasionally used, is to descend with the wings about two-thirds open, 

 causing a loud roaring noise due to the wind passing through the 

 separated primaries, and in this case the bird alights directly with 

 spread wings and tail. 



The "joint flight" is shared by both sexes and is normal in char- 

 acter, both birds (but especially the male) calling quickly as when 

 rising for the ceremonial flight. The female is generally slightly in 

 front of the male on these occasions. During the "tail display" 

 the male struts round the hen with the tail fully expanded like a fan, 

 but depressed to about an angle of G0° to 70° with the horizontal and 

 tilts it from side to side so that the black and white surface is pre- 

 sented to the female. The " scrape ceremony " is chiefly confined to 

 the male who runs to a depression and crouches down in it with 



