I20 THE COURTSHIP OF ANIMALS 



to animal life where commercial interests are concerned — 

 in thousands : " First they stand face to face, then they 

 begin nodding and bowing vigorously, then rub their 

 bills together with a whistling cry. After this they 

 begin shaking their heads and snapping their bills with 

 marvellous rapidity, occasionally lifting one wing, straight- 

 ening themselves out and blowing out their breasts ; 

 then they put their bills under the wing or toss them in 

 the air with a groaning scream, and walk round each 

 other often for fifteen minutes at a time." 



Cranes are much given to dancing. Mr. Nelson, an 

 American ornithologist, has described with m.uch vigour 

 the dancing of the Sandhill Crane in Alaska. As he 

 lay in a " hunting-blind " he was suddenly aroused by 

 the arrival of a crane, followed speedily by a second, 

 uttering his loud note as he came, until he espied the 

 first-comer on the ground, when he made a circuit and 

 dropped close by. Both birds then joined in a series 

 of loud rolling cries in quick succession. Suddenly, the 

 last-comer, which seemed to be a male, wheeled his back 

 towards the female and made a low bow, his head nearly 

 touching the ground, and ending by a quick leap into the 

 air. Another pirouette brought him facing his charmer, 

 whom he greeted with a still deeper bow, his wings 

 trailing loosely by his sides. She replied by an answering 

 bow and hop, and then tried to outdo the other in a 

 series of spasmodic hops and starts, mixed with a set of 

 comically grave and ceremonious bows. The pair stood 

 for some moments bowing right and left, when the legs 

 appeared to become envious of the large share taken in the 

 performance by the neck, and then would ensue a series 

 of skilled hops and skips, like the steps of a minuet. Such 

 antics are characteristic of the Cranes of all species, and 



