DANCERS 55 



to be engaged in profound meditation; occasionally 

 he shakes his head vigorously as if to drive away 

 some importunate thought. But he is engaged in 

 no more intellectual occupation than a careful 

 search for his supper of small mollusks." 



If a female hammer-head chances to move near 

 him, he suddenly opens his wings and begins to 

 dance in the moonlight for her and with her. When 

 the dance is ended, he again assumes a ministerial 

 air quite befitting so learned a creature. 



The great bird of paradise assembles in a large 

 tree with a number of fellow artists who gather to 

 dance and display their elegance and beauty. Here, 

 where there is plenty of room among the foliage, 

 these exquisite creatures raise their wings over their 

 backs, curve out their necks, while their rich, 

 golden side-feathers are kept in perpetual vibra- 

 tion. Of course, they have to hop from branch to 

 branch, if they wish to change positions, and they 

 are more like a flying ballet than a group of regu- 

 lar dancers. 



^ The sage cock, a native of the foot-hills and 

 prairies between western Kansas and the Sierra 

 Nevada and Cascade Ranges, drums as well as 

 dances to win a bride. He is not quite so skilled 

 in dancing as many of his cousins of the .West, 

 although he is a magnificent artist at parade. No 



