Bo4 SONG 
back, wantonly precipitate themselves many yards towards the 
ground, while the solemn Raven, does not scorn a similar feat, and, 
with the tenderest of croaks, glides supinely alongside or in front 
of his mate.! 
Yet there are cases in which these gestures are not confined to 
the males, but are shared by both sexes. Any one who has 
watched a pair of Wild Ducks of any species in spring can hardly 
fail to have been entertained by their proceedings, in which the 
most affectionate caresses are mingled with acts to all appearance 
of violence, and these last are, as often as not, begun by the female. 
The same may be said of GrEBES, which like Ducks will swim in 
circles with the head, now raised aloft, now laid flat on the water. 
Many of the movements are simultaneously performed by both 
partners, others by each alternately, and solemn bows are exchanged 
with ludicrous regularity. Suddenly a playful attack is made by 
one bird on the other, and then all the spectator sees is a splash or 
series of splashes in the water, while his ears are struck by the loud 
and harsh cries of the actors in this display.2, But there are other 
birds in which gesticulations are carried much further, and it would 
seem that JACANAS and some of the RAILS join in festive dances 
that can be only likened to balls, the performers becoming excited 
almost to frenzy, and with loud cries and outstretched wings 
rushing from side to side for several minutes. Still more strange 
are said to be some of the actions of the Cayenne LAPWING, where 
one bird of a pair leaving his own mate will pay a visit toa 
neighbouring pair, by whom he is received with ceremonious 
courtesy: the three form a procession, the stranger walking in 
front and his hosts following-—all keeping step and uttering 
resonant drumming notes. Presently the march stops, the stranger 
elevates his wings, and stands motionless, while the other two, 
exactly abreast, halt behind him, drop their voice to a murmur, 
touch the ground with the bill, as though making obeisance, and in 
this posture remain for some time. ‘Then the ceremony is over, 
and the visitor retires to his own ground and mate, to receive 
another visitor in exactly the same way. 
1 No comprehensive account of the Song of Birds seems ever to have been 
written. The following may be cited among the principal treatises on the subject:— 
Barrington, Phil. Trans. 1773, pp. 249-291 ; Kennedy, NV. Abhandl. baier. Akad. 
(Phil. Abhandl.) 1797, p. 169; Blackwall, Mem. Lit. and Phil. Soc. Manch. 
1824, pp. 289-323 ; Savart, (Mroriep’s) Notizen wu. s. w. 1826, pp. 1-10, 20-25 ; 
Brehm and Hansmann, Nawmannia, 1855, pp. 54-59, 96-101, 181-195, and 
Journ. fiir Orn. 1855, pp. 848-3851, 1856, pp. 250-255. The notes of many of 
our common birds are musically expressed by Mr. Harting, Birds of Middlesex 
(London: 1866); and Prof. Paolucci, 22 Canto degli Uccelli (Milano: 1878). 
2 Cf. Stevenson and Southwell, B. Norf. iii. p. 239. 
8 Cf. Mr. Hudson’s interesting Naturalist in La Plata (chap. xix.) whence are 
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