57 The whoopers still dance 



was nevertheless poised and ready for anything. That young one 

 learned about life very quickly. After the first call the male lowered 

 his head and his entire body stiffened, the neck now held straight 

 out and arched slightly. In another instant he was running for- 

 ward for a take-off, the female and young right behind him. 



With great flicking wingbeats, all three bore down on the in- 

 truders, who were gamely standing their ground perhaps 400 yards 

 away. The male remained in the van, of course, flying straight in 

 on target and coming to earth only a few yards away. As soon as 

 he was grounded he went right for them, his long neck and heavy 

 bill thrust out in front of him like a spear, his strides long and 

 his wings beating to lend him further speed. The two trespassers 

 had been standing very straight and tall, and when this animated 

 spearhead was only a few feet from them they suddenly took 

 flight. I have seen a defending male pursue such intruders more 

 than a mile, pushing them through the air at their utmost speed. 

 They always flew at a low altitude, the escaping bird twisting 

 and turning, banking and swerving, and trying every trick in the 

 book in an effort to shake off the relentless fury on his tail. I 

 never saw actual contact or real battle. Somehow, in spite of all 

 the challenging and aggressiveness, it is always avoided. 



As already related, the dances begin in mid-December or a 

 little thereafter. These spectacular performances mark the begin- 

 ning of a new breeding cycle. With the immense size of the birds, 

 this dance is one of the great dramas of the bird world. It may be- 

 gin quite suddenly, as the family group is standing idly on a ridge 

 of salt-flat grass, preening their feathers. The male bird turns, 

 walks off into the shallow water, and stretches, raising his wings 

 over his back, bending forward slightly as he does so. All at once 

 he starts to dance, bowing toward the female, who now steps 

 into the water beside him. Raising his satin-white wings with their 

 jet-black tips to the fullest extent, he leaps high in the air, execut- 

 ing a half turn before landing. The female is now in the formalized 

 attitude of a dancing crane, her neck arched, wings and plumes 

 slightly raised, whole body stiff and yet graceful, like that of a 

 ballerina. They begin by leaping together, but it is the male who 

 leaps most often, in what appears to be a perfect frenzy of emo- 



