652 MR. J. S. HUXLEY ON THE 



by one of two or one of three birds. If so, however, it was 

 hardly ever repeated more than a very few times. I have several 

 times seen it take place when I have frightened a bird up from 

 feeding. 



The meaning of this habit is hard to discover, and its relation 

 (if any) to the courtship proper is equally obscure. It is per- 

 formed, I believe, only in the spring, and would certainly seem 

 to be of the same nature as the drumming of the Snipe or the 

 short soaring flight of the Wood-Pigeon. 



(b) The Combats of the Males. — -These have been well described 

 by Selous {loc. cit.). 1 agree with his opinion that the combats 

 of many birds are now at least merely formal. This was well 

 shown in the Redshank ; the birds scarcely ever touched each 

 other, and often did not even seem fierce. It was mostly a mere 

 running up and down of two birds facing each other, often with 

 a very formal-looking character about it. Farther observation 

 alone can reveal its significance. 



(c) Calling from a cmispicuous perch. — This is mentioned by 

 various writers, and is a very noticeable custom. A single bird 

 will settle on a gate-post, railing, notice-board, or other prominent 

 perch, and will sit there, moving its head from side to side, and 

 uttering a single note many times repeated. Usually after every 

 few notes there comes a short pause. Long pauses are rare. One 

 bird continued calling thus from the same perch for 45 minutes, 

 and was still going on when I had to stop watching. I have at 

 present no idea as to the sex of the calling bird, or as to the 

 purpose of the whole proceeding. 



5. Discussion. 



I will confine myself in this paper to a short discussion of the 

 courtship proper, and will begin by comparing my observations 

 with those of Selous {loc. cit.) ; all other descriptions can here be 

 left out of account, owing to their vague and fragmentary 

 character. 



Selous, who made his observations in Holland, seems, to start 

 with, to have seen a greater proportion of successful courtships 

 than I did. His description (often hard to follow, as there is no 

 arrangement — only notes in chronological order) differs in the 

 following chief points from mine: — 



1 . He seems to have seen only two examples of the first stage 

 of the complete courtship (pp. 212, 213), which is curious, since 

 the follow-my-leader evolutions of my birds were most con- 

 spicuous. 



2. His first stage is described as follows : — " The male, ap- 

 proaching the female, ran about her twice or thrice, in so many 

 half -circles, fanning his tail as he did so, and inclining his body 

 towards her." .... That is to say, the hen was stationary, 



