COURTSHIP AMONG BIRDS 107 



to our eyes. The " Pouter," it is hardly necessary to 

 mention, is an artificial product of the " fancier," who 

 has taken advantage of the natural tendency, seen in the 

 Wild Pigeon, to inflate the neck during moments of excite- 

 ment. By the selection from each generation of the 

 finest performers in his stock, the Pouter of to-day has 

 been developed. But there are many birds which, 

 while not even remotely related, have developed the same 

 strange device. The most striking illustration of this 

 kind is furnished by the Great Bustard, a bird once common 

 on the fen-lands of Great Britain, but now, unhappily, 

 exterminated within these islands. 



The means of inflation in this case is afforded by a 

 large thin-walled sac of a very remarkable character. 

 Opening by a small slit just under the tongue, it is con- 

 tinued down the front of the neck immediately under the 

 skin, which in this region is thickened by an accumula- 

 tion of fat and blood-vessels. Between the arms of the 

 furcula, or merry-thought, its cavity is constricted, to 

 expand again immediately to form a pear-shaped ter- 

 mination. How it is filled is something of a mystery. 

 But once inflated, the bird draws its neck downwards and 

 backwards, so that the head is brought to rest between 

 the shoulders and is there almost buried, partly by pressure 

 on this curious air-cushion and partly by the erection of 

 a number of bristle-like feathers, which in calmer moments 

 project backwards on each side of the head. At the 

 same time the tail is drawn forwards to lie upon the back, 

 thus exposing a billowy mass of white feathers forming 

 the under tail-coverts. The tips of the wing-feathers are 

 used to hold the tail in position. Meanwhile the scapulars 

 are set on end, and the long inner secondary quills are 

 similarly erected. The feathered contortionist, having 



