300 THE ZOOLOGIST. 



foot-work. Eising again in a few moments, the bird commences 

 to pluck from the soil stubbles and roots, jerking them backward 

 over the shoulder in a haphazard manner, careless whether they 

 fall in the scrape or, which is quite as frequent, outside it. 

 Thence he gradually steps forward, a pace or two at a time, 

 continuing to phick straws and dispose of them in the previous 

 way. Later he may return to the same spot, and go through 

 similar actions a second time. It is in this manner that the 

 hollows or *' false nests " are formed, and each male in the 

 course of the days elapsing before mating makes a number of 

 such, usually in groups of two or three together, in which he 

 works at intervals daily ; and it is in one of these scrapes that 

 the eggs are ultimately laid. The female, so far as I have seen, 

 does not initiate such scrapes on her own account, although she 

 later helps to deepen and line one or two previously formed by 

 the male. The exact situation of the nest is thus primarily de- 

 pendent on the choice of the male bird — a condition of affairs 

 somewhat unexpected. 



It is of interest to note that the males show greater jealousy 

 of each other when scraping than on any other occasion, and 

 when two birds chance to be standing quietly near each other, 

 nothing is more likely to bring about hostility on the part of 

 one bird than if the other should scrape or attempt to do so. 



While the formation of scrapes is of common occurrence in 

 the absence of the female, the proceeding is much more energetic 

 and repeated in the near presence of a bird of that sex, and it 

 has an important role in the " courting " display of the species. 

 In its usual form courtship takes the following course : On 

 catching sight of a female bird, or when the latter chances to 

 settle somewhere not too far away from his usual stance, the 

 male approaches her by means of a direct and rapid run. On 

 arrival he stops, and describes a half-circle close round her, his 

 pose and gait peculiarly constrained and stiff ; the head and 

 neck are held out in line with the body, and the crest depressed. 

 He then, without further pause, stalks off stiffly directly away 

 from the female, and makes for his nearest scrape, into which he 

 instantly drops. He works now with exceptional and prolonged 

 energy, pausing only occasionally to pluck straws and grasses, 

 and dropping them over his shoulder or by his side. Should 



