"■fg'ig J HvxIjEY, Bird-walching and Biological Science. LOo 



In this attitude they run and leap over the ground, often turning 

 partially round in the air, getting more and more violent as they 

 go on, until, like Dancing Dervishes, they have made the dance an 

 ecstasy of violent motion. Selous only once saw this dance in its 

 perfection; but there are always rudimentary stages of it to be 

 seen, when the birds, in the position described, would walk or run 

 quickly over the ground, with now and then a little leap. The 

 whole process, especially in these incipient stages, seems to be 

 merely an outlet for the strong sexual emotion of the cocks, for they 

 perform in this manner even when no hens are on the ground. 



At intervals, hens visit the assembly-place; it is very rare for 

 many to be there together. The arrival of one is usually signalled 

 by a general commotion among the cocks, all leaping and dancing 

 as above described. As, however, she walks from one part of tlie 

 ground to another, each cock displays before her as long as she is 

 within the limits of his particular territory. This display is entirely 

 different from the dance. Instead of being a wild expression of 

 passion, it is pompous and slow, and is adapted for showing off all 

 the colors and contrasts of the cocks' plumage. The tail is again 

 fanned, the wings drooped and spread to a considerable extent, 

 the head held down and forward. In this attitude the cock passes 

 first on one side of the hen, then on the other, and as he passes he 

 tilts his body so that the brilliant upper surface of body and wings 

 is towards the hen. 



The hen may "reject" her suitor, by simply walking on to the 

 station of the next male; the males have no means of enforcing 

 their desires if she does not show her approval, which she signifies 

 by stooping and finally crouching in the position for coition. A 

 hen may be courted unsuccessfully by several cocks and then 

 choose (choose is the only correct word) another; or she may leave 

 the ground without favoring any of them. From Selous' observa- 

 tions (for the details I must refer the reader to the original) it is 

 quite clear that the hens come to the ground for a definite purpose 

 — to be stimulated sexually, to put it in the most physiological 

 way — and if the stimulus is not sufficient they leave the ground 

 without coition taking place. The stimulus is given by the dis- 

 play of the cocks, and one may be successful where another fails; 

 success depends therefore on the variations in the males, or on the 

 whim of the female, or, most probably, on both combined. 



