282 The Naturalist in La Plata. 



man's case would be like that of the inferior 

 animals. 



I was one day watching a flock of plovers, quietly 

 feeding on the ground, when, in a moment, all the 

 birds were seized by a joyous madness, and each 

 one, after making a vigorous peck at his nearest 

 neighbour, began running wildly about, each trying 

 in passing to peck other birds, while seeking by 

 means of quick doublings to escape being pecked in 

 turn. This species always expresses its glad im- 

 pulse in the same way ; but how different in form 

 is this simple game of touch-who-touch-can from 

 the triplet dances of the spur-winged lapwings, 

 with their drumming music, pompous gestures, and 

 military precision of movement ! How different 

 also from the aerial performance of another bird of 

 the same family the Brazilian stilt in which one is 

 pursued by the others, mounting upwards in a wild, 

 eccentric flight until they are all but lost to view; 

 and back to earth again, and then skywards once 

 more; the pursued bird when overtaken giving 

 place to another individual, and the pursuing pack 

 making the air ring with their melodious barking 

 cries ! How different again are all these from the 

 aerial pastimes of the snipe, in which the bird, in 

 its violent descent, is able to produce such wonder- 

 ful, far-reaching sounds with its tail-feathers ! The 

 snipe, as a rule, is a solitary bird, and, like the 

 oscillating finch mentioned early in this paper, is 

 content to practise its pastimes without a witness. 

 In the gregarious kinds all perform together : for 

 this feeling, like fear, is eminently contagious, and the 

 sight of one bird mad with joy will quickly make 



