376 THE PLOVERS 



the female with formal steps. He may circle partly round her and 

 then commence working in one of his scrapes, or he may walk straight 

 past her direct to the nearest scrape. 1 Mr. Brock states that the 

 females show no response to the advances of the males for about a 

 fortnight after courtship commences, arid at times indicate "annoy- 

 ance and distaste by a rapid retreat, even passing to a distant part of 

 the field." 2 The first sign that the female gives of acceptance of the 

 attentions of a male is by approaching him " by short and indirect 

 stages " while he is scraping, as though interested in the proceeding. 3 

 The male rises from the scrape and adopts a pose which savours more 

 of display than the set run with extended neck, which is rather a pre- 

 lude to scraping. In this pose, as described by Mr. Brock, the male, 

 "keeping his back turned towards the hen, now very close beside 

 him, slowly lowers his bill to the ground and raises his tail almost 

 perpendicularly in the air, his richly coloured under tail-coverts are 

 thus prominently displayed." 4 The female meantime settles down 

 and according to Mr. Brock in the scrape the male has just left. 

 Her action when scraping is similar to that of the male, but less 

 energetic, and she is more prone to settle quietly as though brooding. 

 The male meanwhile maintains the displaying pose, occasionally pluck- 

 ing up herbage and tossing it over his shoulder. Frequently while in 

 this position he rocks his tail up and down and lifts the points of his 

 wings, as he does when scraping, and also utters a low creaking note. 

 Mr. Brock describes another pose adopted by a male should he 

 approach a female on the wing : " In such a case, on settling close 

 beside her, he momentarily takes up a very erect attitude, towering 

 over the other bird, his breast feathers puffed out to their fullest 

 extent, and the long crest inclined forward." 5 This is followed by 

 periods of scraping and displaying in the more usual pose. 



At first the female is apt to lose interest in the proceedings, 

 although for a while she may take turns with the male at working in a 



1 See also Bird-life Glimpses, p. 165 ; and Zoologist, 1911, p. 300. 



2 Zoologist, 1911, p. 301. 3 Ibid., 1911, p. 302. 

 4 Ibid., 1911, p. 302. 5 Ibid., 1911, p. 301. 



