COURTSHIP OF THE GREAT CRESTED GREBE. 551 
eaten, and that the final bout of shaking was less than half 
as long. 
12.0-12.15. The birds now swim about, preen themselves, dive, 
and pick things off the surface. The cock is now more 
active in searching for food than the hen, while previously 
the reverse had been true. At 12.8 they passed another 
bird (sex ?). My hen went close up to it, then swam rather 
rapidly away, then close up again. However, nothing 
happens, and neither bird goes into the Dundreary-attitude. 
12.15. They pass neara single bird, which I think is a hen—the 
cock, who was leading, took no notice of it; but the hen 
went into the straight-necked (or angry) Dundreary-attitude 
and, without giving any call, swam at the third bird. ‘The 
solitary one turned, swam away, and finally flew some 
fifteen yards off, upon which my hen turned, assumed 
a normal attitude, and swam back towards her mate. No 
shaking or other expression of emotion, however, took place. 
12.17. They began fishing close inshore. 
12.18. I took my eyes off them, and when I looked back could no 
longer be sure of them among the several birds along the 
shore. 
My notes on this pair I have given in full because I had them 
under continuous observation for a considerable time (over an 
hour and a half). Their behaviour is of interest in various ways. 
In the first place, we see how, in this pair at least, outbursts of 
violent emotional actions alternate with calm periods during 
which the birds rest or feed, occasionally indulging in a short 
and rather languid bout of shaking. When passing near a third 
bird, one of the pair usually went into the threatening attitude 
(Dundreary). In every case I could be sure about, the bird that 
did this was of the same sex as the third or single bird. The 
pair had marked idiosyncrasies of its own, both as regards what it 
did do and what it did not do: and besides this, both cock and 
hen had tricks of their own in performing the courtship-actions, 
which I think were certainly permanent and not due to changeable 
physiological states. 
All this took place on the reedless reservoir, where there are no 
nests, and consequently far away from the scene of actual pairing. 
Physiologically, therefore, the ‘‘ courtship ” and the act of pairing 
are entirely detached from each other. 
12. April 18. 2.30 p.m. 
A pair shook about forty times, with habit-preening. At the end 
they turned their backs on one another, still shaking and habit- 
preening—to themselves, as it were,—but gradually letting their 
erests sink. When about twenty yards apart they turned, swam 
slowly together, and shook a little, but without raising their crests. 
Then for about a quarter of an hour they stayed quietly facing 
each other, preening themselves. After this there was a short 
bout of shaking, then a rest, then another bout of some thirty 
