° 1916 J Huxley, Bird-amlching and Biological Science. lol 



and finally dive. On this the calling bird changes its whole de- 

 meanor, spreading its wings out to display the white bar upon 

 them, erecting its ruff, and drawing back its head, now rayed like 

 the sun, on to its breast, white and puffed out. The diving bird 

 approaches just below the surface, raising a ripple as it comes, and 

 finally emerges just behind its mate in a strange stiff attitude: — 

 "He seemed to grow out of the water. First his head, the beak 

 pointing down along the neck in a stiff and peculiar manner; then 

 the neck, (juite straight and vertical; then the body, straight and 

 vertical too; until finally the whole bird, save for a few inches, was 

 standing erect in the water." From this extraordinary position 

 the bird will gradually settle down on the water; its mate mean- 

 while turns round, and the two finish with a bout of shaking. 



The most noticeable thing about all these ceremonies is that 

 they are "self-exhausting" — they do not lead on to anything 

 further. Looked at from the psychological point of view, they 

 seem to me to be nothing but " expressions of emotion": the birds 

 act thus because they are impelled to do so, because they enjoy it. 

 Looked at, on the other hand, from the evolutionary point of view, 

 they seemed to have been developed as a bond to keep the pair 

 together. 



In the other set of ceremonies, those connected with coition, the 

 crest is not employed at all. The whole thing is more or less 

 symbolic, the birds expressing readiness to pair by going into the 

 extraordinary attitude adopted by the female during the actual 

 act of pairing, when the bird "lies along the water" with neck 

 outstretched to its fullest extent. The chief point to be remarked 

 is that both cock and hen may adopt this attitude; indeed the 

 proper qualities of either sex seem in this bird to have been in large 

 degree carried over to the other. 



There is one further interesting point to mention, namely, that 

 flirtation is found in this species ; by which I mean that one member 

 of a pair (either cock or hen), if its mate is absent or unresponsive, 

 will go off and perform the courtship ceremonies with a stranger. 

 For further details, and for the jealousy thus produced, I must 

 refer the reader to my original paper, merely remarking that we 

 find some parallels to human aft'airs that give much food for 

 thought. 



In this species, then, we ha^'e elaborate Structures used only in 



