BIRD ACTORS AND THEATRES 231 



genuine music. Various orchestral effects are heard 

 — flutings, reed-like twitterings ; then, according to 

 Mr. Geyer, "the grinding, whetting, and playing 

 begins, which is also called 'stanza- or verse-making,' 

 a sound which, in spite of every essay, no mortal 

 being has ever been able to imitate, wholly or even 

 partially, and probably never will. This sound lasts 

 from about three and a half to four seconds ; it some- 

 what resembles the whetting of a scythe, and may 

 be, in a way, expressed by the word 'hide, hide, hide, 

 hide, hide, hide, hide, hide-er-i.' During this 'play- 

 ing' the bird is usually seen perched on some promi- 

 nent or withered branch, with drooping and trem- 

 bling wings, ruffled feathers, raised and out-spread 

 tail; in short, it much resembles an angry turkey- 

 cock; the neck is outstretched, the head and eyes 

 turned upwards and in continuous movement. At 

 the same time the bird generally walks up and down 

 the branch . . . and treads a number of small 

 branches to pieces ; in fact, the creature seems to be 

 in a mesmeric state, which renders it totally un- 

 conscious of all that is going on in the outer world ; 

 so much so, indeed, that if shot at and clean missed, 

 while in this state, it continues 'playing' and re- 

 mains quite undisturbed by either the flash or re- 

 port." 



The "play" closes, or the act is finished, shortly 



