200 DIVERSIONS OF A NATURALIST 



that you will still be talking, Signior Benedick : nobody- 

 marks you." After enduring this snubbing on several 

 occasions and doggedly continuing to display his antics, 

 the persistent bustard reaps his reward. One among 

 the dissembling females can no longer keep up the 

 pretence of indifference, and suddenly runs off, inviting 

 him to follow her ! The same general scheme of play 

 is seen in the case of the peacock, who spreads his 

 magnificent " train " around his head and neck (not to 

 be confused with his tail, as it often is) ; in the case of 

 the turkey, bubblyjock, or gobble-cock, who struts and 

 shows off his coloured wattles and fine feathers ; in 

 that of the domestic fowl, who raises his head and neck, 

 crows, and has a pretty trick of scraping the ground 

 with his wing. Many other birds perform special antics 

 suited to the display of their special plumage. Among 

 the most varied and remarkable are those of the Birds 

 of Paradise, which drop through the air, hang upside 

 down on tree twigs, and pose themselves variously 

 (often warbling the while seductive notes) according 

 to the particular beauties which distinguish each species. 

 Cranes and some other birds dance in groups at the 

 mating season — really dance, making steps and jumps 

 with the legs and movements of the wings — in rhythm. 



Reptiles do only a little in the way of display. The 

 male newt gets a crest in the spring like the wanton 

 lapwing of Tennyson, and a splendid orange-red colour 

 on the belly. Male fishes often develop " display " 

 colours at the breeding season, and it is a mistake to 

 suppose that their eyes and brains are not sensitive 

 to colour. We have a familiar instance in the male 

 of our common little stickleback, who, in early summer, 

 builds, in his native pond, his nest of fragments of 

 weed cemented together, with a wide entrance and a 



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