282 THE PLAY OF ANIMALS. 



rapidly aloft in the evening. It is evidently a call to 

 the female, who answers from the earth with a " dick- 

 kiih " or " kiip ti kiipp ti kiipp." * 



ISTaumann thought the napping of storks connected 

 with courtship, but as I do not consider these mani- 

 festations playful I abstain from further citations, ex- 

 cept in the case of the bittern, which may be said to 

 practise his art playfully if the following description is 

 to be trusted. Brehm says: " The peculiar pairing call 

 of the male bittern is like the lowing of oxen, and on 

 still nights may be heard at a distance of two or three 

 kilometres. It is composed of a prelude and a principal 

 tone, and sounds something like ' Ueprumb ? f at a 

 distance. It is said that on coming near the birds a 

 sound like beating on water with sticks is heard. . . . 

 The male keeps it up almost constantly; beginning at 

 twilight he is most vociferous before midnight, and 

 ceases at dawn, only to start up again, however, between 

 seven and nine o'clock. The observations of Count 

 Wodzicki have confirmed the account of the older 

 writers. He says : c The performer stands on both feet 

 with his bill in the water when giving vent to this 

 extraordinary sound, which causes the water to spurt up 

 all around. First I heard Naumann's ' Ue ' and then the 

 bird raised his head and looked behind him, but quick- 

 ly plunging it in again he produced such a roar that I 

 was startled. I am convinced that these tones which 



* Diezel's Niederjagd, p. 664. Here, too, is to be found a history 

 of the controversy over the origin of this sound, but unfortunately 

 Darwin's remarks on similar phenomena are not noticed. 



f Although he often attempted it, Naumann never got a sight 

 of the bittern. We may assume that his " Ueprumb " is only a rough 

 approximation of the sound, which is not transcribable. " It is a 

 sound," say the Mullers, " that blends the deepest lowing of cattle 

 with water splashing and something like sighs." 



