1 62 A HISTORY OF BIRDS 



practising the art, apparently, as a means of winning the favour 

 of the females. " The natives call this bird the ' bailidor ' or 

 ' dancer,' " says Mr. Nutting, " but it was not until I had been in 

 the region for some time that I understood why it was called 

 by that name. One day, when hunting through the dense 

 forest, the profound silence was suddenly broken by the regularly 

 repeated note of ' El Bailidor,' and softly making my way to 

 the spot I witnessed one of the most remarkable performances 

 it has ever been my lot to see. Upon a bare twig which over- 

 hung the trail at a distance of about four feet from the ground 

 two male ' bailidors ' were engaged in a ' song and dance ' act 

 that simply astonished me. The two birds were about a foot 

 and a half apart, and were alternately jumping about two feet 

 in the air, and alighting exactly upon the spot whence they 

 jumped. The tune was as regular as clockwork, one bird 

 jumping up the instant the other alighted, each bird accompany- 

 ing himself to the tune of ' to-le-do — to-le-do — to-le-do ' 

 sounding the syllable ' to ' as he crouched to spring, ' le ' while 

 in the air, and 'do' as he alighted. This performance was 

 kept up without intermission for more than a minute, when 

 the birds suddenly discovered that they had an audience, and 

 made off." 



The stately Albatross even indulges in dancing when over- 

 wrought with excitement! The Hon. Walter Rothschild, in 

 his Avifauna of Laysan gives a vivid word -picture of the antics 

 of this bird : " First they stand face to face, then they begin 

 nodding and bowing vigorously, then rub their bills together 

 with a whistling cry. After this they begin shaking their 

 heads and snapping their bills with marvellous rapidity, oc- 

 casionally lifting one wing, straightening themselves out and 

 blowing out their breasts ; then they put their bill under the 

 wing or toss it in the air with a groaning scream, and walk 

 round each other, often for fifteen minutes at a time." 



Even more remarkable are the performances of Cranes. 

 Mr. Nelson, in his Birds of Alaska, gives a striking illustration 

 of this: "On i8th May I lay in a hunting blind and was much 

 amused by the performances of two Cranes which alighted 

 near by. The first-comer remained alone but a short time, 

 when a second bird came along, uttering his loud note at short 

 intervals, until he espied the bird on the ground, when he made 



