50 



JOURNAL OF THE WIID BtRD IN\'i:STIGATION' SOCIETY. 



tlip\- nested in rabljit holes, and flew away 

 lonq- before we j^^ot anywhere near them, so 

 that close ohser\ation of their h;ihits was im- 

 possible. 



The mention of the links l-eads our 

 thoughts to other bird wonders, there 1 have 

 often watched Ringed Plovers doing their 

 nuptial flights; with ihem, as in the Green- 

 finch, the wing beat is slow and the flight 

 heav\' and almost mechanical-looking in its 

 stiffness, the direction is uncertain and vacil- 

 lating, and a distinctive trilling note is uttered 

 all the lime. Lapwings too have a flight and 

 dance during their courting period, the 

 former is really more of a tiunbling o\'er in 

 the air, performed in the midst of an appar- 

 ently normal flight. Their dance is very 

 attractive and preti\-, and seems to be but 

 little known; (he l)iril bends forwaril with 

 breast on or close to the groimd, turns his 

 back to the lad\' he wishes {o attract, 

 puffs out the beaiUiful white and chestnm 

 feathers under his tail and rolls slowh- from 

 side to side, from lime to time he stands up, 

 makes a few^ stiff steps forward or from side 

 to side, and then resumes the rolling again. 

 The.se stiff^ steps are a common accompani- 

 ment of nuptial displays, they are seen in 

 man\ of oin- most familiar waders; the 0\'ster- 

 caicher, lor (-\am]ile, mav be seen in spring 

 furthering his courtship in this manner, he 

 will talce a few stiff steps, then bend forward 

 with hill on or near the ground, and pour 

 forth his wonderful trilling note, which, once 

 heard, can ne\'er be forgotten. 



The Re-dsliank too has a charming dance — 

 (|uoting from m\' own notes, I find, under date 

 of 15th April : " One gave a most beautiful 

 displa\' on the shore; he opened his wings till 

 they met o\-er liis back and walked with stiff, 

 formal steps after the female, who kept walk- 

 ing slowly away. \Mien she stopped he 

 turned round in front of her, sometimes 

 slightly lowering the points of his wings and 

 (|ui\ering them, at others sianding quite close 



to the female with his wings stretched u|3 over 

 her head. Occasionalh' he stood still and 

 mox-etl his legs slf)wly as if walking, but witii- 

 out athancing; he followed the female for 

 about forty yards, displaying all the lime, 

 ihen she flew away, and he follcjwed." Red- 

 shanks have also a rather attractive courting 

 llighl; when flying thev seem to stop and 

 flutter their \yings very, very cjuickly in the 

 air, then skim along with wings e.Ktended but 

 motionless for quite a long w-ay. The beauti- 

 ful spring flight and call of the C"urlevy is too 

 well known to require exhaustive description, 

 all who have visited, at this season, our moors 

 and iqjlands, where these birds breed, know 

 and love this wild eerie note and woiulerlul, 

 hovering flight. 



The Duck famih perform their c(iui-tshi]:)s 

 in another wa\- ; 1 ha\e man\' times watched 

 |{ider displaying, but these antics have been 

 so often described that \ye need not reiterate 

 ihem, but will tr\' to give some idea of the 

 kindred actions of some other less well-known 

 species. I have often seen .Mergan.ser dis- 

 pla\ ing in Largo Bay; on 19th February, 

 igoS, four, tvyo males and two females, were 

 swimming about close inshore, the males 

 courting hard. They sank themselves low in 

 the water, puffing out their breasts and hold- 

 ing their heads rather back, then they suil- 

 denly darted their heads upwards, then down 

 close along the water. This done, lhe\ laised 

 their tails so quickdy that ihe whole body 

 liobbed in the water. \\'hen the head is 

 raised the crest lies flat along the back of the 

 neck', but when the head is thrown forwards 

 and downwards it is raised fiercely. On the 

 occasion above referred to the Ducks took no 

 a|)parent interest in the proceedings, swim- 

 ming about in an indifferent manner. At the 

 luisi Xeuk of Life Long-tailed Ducks ma\' 

 often be seen in the winter and spring months. 

 Before thev take their long flight to their 

 breeding places in the far north I have some- 

 times seen their courting displays and heard 



