224 AMERICAN GAME BIRD SHOOTING 



tion, and seems to be emitted as the air enters the sac, 

 rather than when the air is expelled. The collapse of 

 the sac is sudden. The sound is ventriloquial, and 

 it is very difficult to locate the direction or distance 

 whence it comes, unless the bird can be seen. A sec- 

 ond sort of call is much less frequent and closely re- 

 sembles a single syllable of the hoot of the barred owl. 

 "Another characteristic antic was a peculiar combi- 

 nation of a short run, a sudden jump of three to five 

 feet into the air, and a rapid uncoordinated flop and 

 scramble in the air, the bird usually alighting within 

 ten or twenty feet of the starting point, but turn- 

 ing so as to face at least at right angles, or even in 

 the opposite direction from which it started. When in 

 the air it emits a peculiar cacophonous call or cackle, 

 which, when heard at a distance, gives the impression 

 of a hearty burst of laughter. The purpose of these 

 semi-somersault-like maneuvers appeared to be to at- 

 tract the attention of other birds, possibly even as a 

 challenge, for frequently they seemed to precede the 

 somewhat pacific duels described above. The effect 

 of these sounds, together with the tooting calls, in 

 the mists which so often obtain in their habitat before 

 sunrise, is weird in the extreme. At 4:15 A.M., on 

 May 2, these sounds were practically continuous, with- 

 out appreciable interval, apparently from all directions. 

 At 4:45 A.M. six birds could be counted, all in sight 

 at once. They appeared to resort to a particular, clear 

 space, of about two acres in extent, where the antics 

 just described were carried on. All the birds, except 



