272 THE BIRDS 



in this position, motionless, then suddenly both spring into the air 

 and strike at one another with their feet. These manoeuvres are 

 repeated again and again until one or both combatants are tired ; 

 if, however, they grow too excited they lose their tempers, and, 

 discarding their regular rules of battle, each bird tries to seize 

 its opponent by the beak and belabour it soundly with its 

 wings. 



Blackcocks, too, indulge in the most amazing sparring matches 

 when courting the grey hens, the tournaments taking place in 

 the early hours of the morning before the arrival of the hens upon 

 the scene. When a grey hen appears the various duels cease, 

 and the cocks go through all sorts of ridiculous antics, flinging 

 themselves into the air and dancing about with outstretched 

 wings while they utter loud, hoarse cries, each bird doing his 

 best to scream more loudly and dance more madly than his rivals 

 and so gain the favour of the demure grey hen. 



The habit of dancing to win their mates or impress their rivals 

 is not uncommon among birds ; one of the most curious examples 

 is seen in a small South American bird called a " Manakin." Its 

 performance has been described by Mr. Nutting, who says : 

 " The natives call this bird the ' bailidor/ or ' dancer/ but it was 

 not until I had been in the region for some time that I understood 

 why it was called by that name. One day, when hunting through 

 the dense forest, the profound silence was suddenly broken by 

 the regularly repeated note of "El Bailidor," and softly making 

 my way to the spot, I witnessed one of the most remarkable per- 

 formances it has ever been my lot to see. Upon a bare twig which 

 overhung the trail at a distance of about four feet from the ground, 

 two male ' bailidors ' were engaged in a ' song and dance/ an act that 

 simply astonished me. The two birds were about a foot and a 

 half apart, and were alternately jumping about two feet in the air, 

 alighting exactly upon the spot whence they jumped. The time 

 was as regular as clockwork, one bird jumping up the instant the 

 other alighted, each bird accompanying himself to the tune of 

 io-le-do to-le-do to-le-do, sounding the syllable to as he crouched 

 to spring, le while in the air, and do as he alighted. This perform- 

 ance was kept up without intermission for more^than a minute, 

 when the birds suddenly discovered they had an audience, and 

 made off." 



