192 BIRD LIFE GLIMPSES 



it will be alluded to as *' one of those odd and inex- 

 plicable impulses which seem, sometimes, to possess 

 birds," &c. &c. — so difficult to explain, in fact, that 

 some naturalists would prefer not to try to. For 

 myself, I like trying, and I see, in the curiously set 

 and formal-looking combats of many birds, a pos- 

 sible origin of some of those so-called dances or 

 antics which do not seem to bear any special relation 

 to the attracting or charming of the one sex by the 

 other. The whole thing, I believe, is this. Any- 

 thing constantly gone through, in a particular 

 manner, becomes a routine, and a routine becomes, 

 in time, automatical, the more so, probably, as we 

 descend lower in the scale of life. Whilst the 

 actions get more and more fixed, the clear purpose 

 that originally dictated them, becomes, first, subor- 

 dinated, then obscured, finally forgotten, and 

 intelligence has lapsed. We have, then, an antic, 

 but when this has come about, change is likely to 

 begin. For the actions being not, now, of any 

 special use, there will be nothing to keep them 

 fixed, and as muscular activity goes hand in hand 

 with mental excitement, such excitement will, pro- 

 bably, give rise to other actions, which, having no 

 definite object, and being of an energetic character, 

 must often seem grotesque. Movements, indeed, 

 appear odd in proportion as we can see no meaning 

 in them. There being, now, such antics, accom- 

 panied with excitement, it is probable that excite- 

 ment of any kind will tend to produce them, and, 

 the strongest kind of excitement being the sexual 

 one, they are likely to become a feature of the 

 season of love. Moreover, the most vigorous birds 



