THE LOVE DISPLAYS OF BIRDS 239 



(which to us seemed to be a kind of challenge), 

 eventually hopping up and buffeting the one 

 thus showing off. There could be no possible 

 doubt that these male Robins were seeking to 

 display the colour of their breasts to best ad- 

 vantage. No females were in sight, and each 

 bird all the time kept its tail elevated almost 

 over its back, and was evidently full of excite- 

 ment. No song accompanied this display, which 

 is all the more remarkable, because the Robin 

 is one of the most pugnacious and pertinacious 

 singers in the entire order. The vernal soaring 

 flights of the Chaffinch are also very beautiful. 

 These take place when two rival males meet, 

 and are never, so far as we can determine, ac- 

 companied by song or note of any kind. The 

 two birds rise perpendicularly in the air, some- 

 times for thirty feet or more, buffeting each 

 other all the time, then coming down in much 

 the same way. Time after time will these quar- 

 relsome flights take place, the effect of the 

 particoloured wings being extremely pretty. 



In concluding this brief survey of avine song 

 and display, a few words seem necessary con- 

 cerning their meaning and purpose. Darwin 

 sought to weave all this display of song and 

 dance and antic into his masterly conception 



