244 Wonders of the Bird World 



the males of all ducks go through a similar change of 

 plumage in the breeding-season is not known, but there is 

 every reason to believe that they do. 



One of the most extraordinary displays of "showing off" 

 is that of the great Bustard, as is seen in the accompanying 

 illustration. When the male wishes to attract the attention 

 of the female bird, he first approaches her with short steps, 

 lifting his feet from the ground and rustling his wings. 

 His next proceeding is to throw his tail flat over on to his 

 back and to spread his shoulders out, so that, by crossing 

 the ends of the long primary quills, he is enabled to keep 

 the tail down, and he then ruffles up all his back-feathers 

 and scapulars, so as to completely hide the wings and the 

 tail together. The white under tail-coverts are then brought 

 up, so as to form a kind of fringe or " halo " at the back of 

 the bird, who next proceeds to make an attempt to turn 

 the feathers of the wing inside out. The white inner 

 secondaries which lie nearest to the back are raised and 

 thrown over the latter, and in order that there may be no 

 mistake about these being seen, the bird flings down the 

 long parapteral feathers which lie between the shoulders 

 and the wing- coverts, and thus the wife is enabled to 

 admire the show of white feathers which are elevated across 

 the back. The wing-coverts are also twisted in a similar 

 fashion, but not quite to the same extent. Having accom- 

 plished this extraordinary contribution to the study of 

 love-making, the Bustard then proceeds to inflate his chest, 

 which he does by blowing out his pouch to an enormous 

 extent ; and then, burying his head in his neck so that his 

 whiskers become upturned on each side of the head, he 

 adds the final touch to one of the most wonderful ex- 

 hibitions in nature. That white is an attractive colour in 

 this display must be gathered from the extraordinary 

 efforts put forth by the bird to show all his white plumage 

 to the best advantage. It will have already been noticed 



