THE PLAY OF ANIMALS. 283 



are loudest at their beginning are produced when the 

 bird has his throat full of water and expels it with 

 great force. The music went on, but he did not throw 

 his head back again, nor did I hear the loud note any 

 more. It seems to express the highest pitch of excite- 

 ment, and having given vent to it he is relieved. After 

 an interval he cautiously raised his bill from the water 

 and peered around, for it seems that he can not tear 

 himself away from his charmer.^ * The bittern stands 

 in an open space, where the female can see him during 

 his performance. The splash is caused by his striking 

 the water several times with his bill before plunging 

 it in; other water sounds are produced by the falling 

 drops, and the last one by the emission of what remains 

 in his bill. A male disturbed by Wodzicki flew off and 

 spurted out a considerable stream that had collected in 

 this way.^' 



5, Coquetry in the Female. 



I have attempted, in the theoretical part of this 

 chapter, to show that the instinctive coyness of females 

 is the most efficient means of preventing the too early 

 and too frequent yielding to sexual impulse. A high 

 degree of excitement is necessary for both, but the fe- 

 male has an instinctive impulse to prevent the male's 

 approach, which can only be overcome by persistent 

 pursuit and the exercise of all his arts. This coyness 

 often seems like fear, and sometimes even like anger, 

 as in the case of spiders and preying animals, but some- 

 times there is no fear at all, the animal even inviting 

 the male's approach until he shows some eagerness, then 



* The happy female keeps near her mate, in a crouching: posi- 

 tion and with erected crei^t and half-shut eves, as if bewitched by 

 his boisterous wooing (Miiller, Thiere der Heimath, ii, p. 4C9). 



