142 THE BIOLOGY OF THE SEASONS 



performance in the air, a bewildering acrobatic display, 

 which seems to unite in itself all the arts of flight practised 

 by the other birds of prey." So it is with hundreds of 

 birds : emotion finds expression in motion ; swallow and 

 lark, dove and pipit, bee-eater and bunting all have their 

 wonderful aerial displays. 



Some that have no display of flying powers show off on 

 foot. Cocks strut, turkeys dance, cranes pirouette to the 

 verge of exhaustion, and even the solemn stork has its 

 minuet. The capercaillie and the black grouse, the pheasant 

 and the peacock, are among the famous dancers. Even the 

 phlegmatic albatross indulges in antics, and the tragopan 

 goes in for the most extraordinary posturing and posing. 



A third aspect of the courting is seen in the combats of 

 rival males. It is an unforgettable experience to get up 

 before dawn in the Spring, to creep quietly up the hillside 

 and hide in a sheep-fold, thence to spy on the " lek " of the 

 polygamous Black Grouse. The cocks strut and fight on 

 the level sward near by ; the hens stand looking on, like the 

 dames at a tournament. The cock utters a peculiar in- 

 describable note, he spreads and depresses his highly 

 decorative tail, and indulges in extraordinary antics, often 

 ending with an excited charge on his rivals. When the 

 spectacle is at its height and the rising sun strikes the 

 combatants, it is difficult to believe that we are looking 

 at the familiar Black Grouse, so remarkable is the trans- 

 figuration. In the end the most successful cock flies off 

 with a following of fascinated hens. 



There are hundreds of other cases, though none more 

 picturesque, of combat and parade. Self-assertiveness runs 

 riot. Love flames out luridly into jealousy. Every one 

 will be cock of the walk, and hence the fray. The biological 

 interest of a cock-fight is in its illustration of masculine 

 self-assertiveness becoming almost maniacal. 



