A LABRADOR SPRING 



close to the water, but lifted up vertically from 

 time to time in the courting manner, and she 

 soon joined her mate. 



The display of the brilliant orange legs and 

 feet by the males is particularly interesting. 

 These members in the female are pale yellow 

 in colour, and it may be supposed that the males 

 have attained the more attractive orange as a 

 result of sexual selection. They certainly make 

 good use of this brilliant colour in the courtship 

 display, for the flash of the orange feet con- 

 trasting with the snowy flanks of the bird and 

 the dark water is extremely effective, and 

 noticeable even at a considerable distance. In 

 this connection it is interesting to note that the 

 legs and feet of both male and female Barrow's 

 golden-eye are alike pale yellow. I am not 

 familiar with the courtship of this bird, and as 

 far as I know it has never been described, 

 but I think it is reasonable to infer that the 

 display of the legs, as in the American golden- 

 eye, is not a part of the performance. As 

 the Barrow's golden-eye lacks the peculiar 

 localized swelling of the lower wind-pipe found 

 in the other species, one might suppose that 

 the musical part of the performance was also 



94 



