254- Wonders of the Bird World 



Of the species living on the earth at the present day, no 

 nearer ally of the Kagu can be found than the Mesites of 

 Madagascar and the Sun-Bittern {Eurjpya nelias) of South 

 America. Of the Mesites nothing is known with regard to 

 its habits, and as to whether it is a dancer or not, we are 

 ignorant. The Sun-Bittern does not dance, but it goes 

 through some extraordinary displays of its plumage, which 

 is spangled all over, and is more like the colouring of a 

 moth in pattern than like the feathering of a bird. There is, 

 however, much in common with the dancing performance 

 of one species, the "showing off" of another, and the 

 playing-grounds and bowers which many birds construct. 

 In fact there are few species which do not make more or 

 less display during the breeding season, and there is 

 nothing more amusing than to witness the love-making of 

 a sober old Rook, as he walks round the female with his 

 head bent down and crest erect, bowing to his wife with 

 his wings expanded and tail spread, while he dances 

 before her. I shall never forget the rude awakening which 

 I once saw happen to a pair of love-sick Rooks on 

 Salisbury plain. In the course of a tricycle journey to the 

 west of England, my daughter and I were stopped at 

 Amesbury by the breakdown of our tandem, but, as luck 

 would have it, the Hawking Club happened that year to 

 have made its head-quarters at the same hotel as ourselves, 

 and the members were good enough to ask us to come and 

 witness the exercise of the trained Peregrines. John 

 Frost was then the Falconer to the Club, and we made 

 most of the journey in the van in which the Hawks were 

 hooded and seated on their perches, while the members of 

 the Club were mounted on horseback, and were therefore 

 able to follow the flights of the Peregrines much more 

 rapidly than we were on foot. It was towards the end of 

 the hawking season, and " Black Maria," as the van was 

 called, seemed to be well known on the " Plain," for, as we 



