THE STONE-CURLEW 247 



heads sideways on the ground for a brief spell, sometimes with a wing 

 raised high in the air ; an attitude which has a curious effect, and is 

 frequently indulged in. As the light weakens the pace grows faster, 

 the wing flashes increase, and here and there a bird will rise from the 

 ground, fly for a short distance, and alight again. At last one or two 

 fly up in earnest, quickly followed by others, and these again by more, 

 until all are up and away to their feeding-grounds, wailing as they go. 

 Their cries gain in effect from the fact that they do not all call at 

 once in a grand chorus, but take it up from each other, wail following 

 wail from one part of the flock to the other. At all times they are 

 more active in dull or rainy weather. In spring and summer, on wet 

 days I have heard them calling from all quarters. And Mr. Selous 

 describes their antics on a certain wet evening as being altogether of 

 a more violent kind than usual. The birds pitched about over the 

 ground, waving and tossing their wings, " each violent run or plunge 

 ending with a sudden pitch forward of the body, the wings straggling 

 about in an uncouth dislocated sort of way ; the effect was as if the 

 birds were being blown over the ground in a violent wind." And 

 again, " one of them would often run at or pursue another with these 

 antics. I saw one that was standing quietly caught and, as it were, 

 covered up in a little storm of wings before it could run away and 

 begin waving its own." l 



The harmony of these evening gatherings seems seldom disturbed 

 by quarrels ; the birds are continually running at each other, but it 

 seems to be in sport, a sort of rough horse-play indicative of high 

 spirits. There is something exceedingly funny, and in keeping with 

 the general bearing of the species, in the way one will stop suddenly 

 after one of these tumultuous displays and assume a most decorous 

 appearance. It looks almost ashamed of having so far forgotten itself. 



They fly back to the assembling places in the early morning, 

 generally about daybreak, although on one foggy morning in September 

 I saw a large flock coming in at about ten o'clock. The heavy mist 



1 Bird Watching, p. 12. 



