COURTSHIP OF BIRDS 143 



Capercaillies fight till the snow is sometimes red with their 

 blood, and their tournament is associated with a not less 

 excited parade. The variable ruffs, which used to breed 

 abundantly in the marshy parts of England, but are now 

 little more than non-nesting visitors, illustrate combative- 

 ness carried almost to a pitch of absurdity. At the pairing 

 time they assemble in companies to joust, and they some- 

 times fight almost the whole day. In spite of all the fuss 

 and flurry, however, the exuberant combat ends, like many a 

 duel, without the rivals doing one another much harm. 



In many cases it is far otherwise. The little swifts and 

 the great eagles sometimes fight to the death, and the same 

 may be true of ostriches and swans, storks and chaffinches, 

 and many other birds. The spur- winged plovers and spur- 

 winged geese are savage fighters. Weismann and Bordage 

 have called attention to the very interesting biological fact 

 that in some habitual fighters, like storks and game-cocks, 

 there is a remarkable regenerative capacity in the bill. 

 Large pieces of the bone as well as of the horn sheath may 

 be regrown after injury a very unusual circumstance, for 

 in creatures high up in the scale of being the " regenerative 

 capacity " is usually very slight. 



We quote a paragraph from A. E. Brehm to illustrate 

 further the wealth of variety in " courtship." 



" The means by which a male bird declares his love and 

 conducts his courtship are very various, but, naturally, they 

 always accord with his most prominent gifts. One woos 

 with his song, another with his wings, this one with his bill, 

 and that with his foot ; one displays all the magnificence of 

 his plumage, another some special decoration, and a third 

 some otherwise unused accomplishment. Serious birds 

 indulge in play and joke and dignified pranks, silent ones 

 chatter, quiet ones become restless, gentle ones combative, 

 timid ones bold, cautious ones careless ; in short, all show 



