HO THE PLAY OF ANIMALS. 



lapwing, one of a neighbouring couple, rise up and fly 

 to them, . . . and is welcomed with notes and signs 

 of pleasure. Advancing to the visitor, they place them- 

 selves behind it; then all three, keeping step, begin a 

 rapid march, uttering resonant drumming notes in time 

 with their movements. . . . The march ceases; the 

 leader elevates his wings and stands motionless and 

 erect, still uttering loud notes; while the other two, 

 with puffed-out plumage and standing exactly abreast, 

 stoop forward and downward until the tips of their 

 beaks touch the ground, and, sinking their rhythmical 

 voices to a murmur, remain for some time in this pos- 

 ture. The performance is then over, and the visitor 

 goes back to his own ground and mate to receive a visit- 

 or himself later on." * If this description is entirely 

 accurate, the foregoing will probably long remain one 

 of the unsolved riddles of animal life. 



Finally, the swinging that gives such pleasure to 

 many birds must be included in the list of movement 

 plays. Every one knows how captive parrots and cana- 

 ries love to swing on a ring, and it appears from the 

 observation of Naumann that birds often cling to 

 the highest tip of a swaying bough to swing on it. 

 He has seen the blue titmouse, the bearded titmouse, 

 penduline titmouse, thistle finch, barley bird, birch 

 siskin, and others do this, f 



But I must now leave the interesting world of birds 

 and turn to some other phenomena. Finsch has ob- 

 served the habits of seals in the vicinity of San Fran- 

 cisco, and describes them graphically. While the move- 



* The Naturalist in La Plata, p. 269. 



f J. A. Naumann, Naturgeschichte der VOgel Deutschlands, iv, 

 pp. 67, 68, 88, 107, 120 ; v, pp. 134, 163, 182. 



