76 TALKS ABOUT BIRDS 



I said at the beginning of this chapter that 

 it was the clever birds that were most inclined 

 to play, but they do not have the fun all to 

 themselves, for some quite stupid birds have 

 their games as well. A very common bird 

 in South America is a kind of tinamou, which, 

 though it does not belong to the same family 

 as the partridge, is so like one in appearance 

 and general habits, that it is always called 

 " partridge " there. These tinamous are often 

 caught by being snared with a noose at the 

 end of a stick, carried by a man who rides 

 round and round them, getting closer at every 

 ring, until he is within touching distance. 

 Birds which will stand this sort of thing can- 

 not be very clever, yet, Mr. Hudson tells us, 

 they have their amusements ; although they 

 do not live in company, they will now and 

 then meet for a game, darting out at each 

 other from the grass, and chasing each other ; 

 the bird that is chased either dodges, or 

 crouches to let his pursuer jump over his back, 

 so that the game is a sort of combination of 

 hide-and-seek and leap-frog. * 



We see, then, that the idea of having 

 games crops up here and there all over the 



