COURTSHIPS OF LABRADOR BIRDS 
and watch the process was therefore the 
greater. 
Although I did not observe the courtship 
of the whistler in Labrador, and its extreme 
shyness is probably the reason that so little 
has been written on the subject, I have ob- 
served it at Ipswich and Barnstable in Massa- 
chusetts, and especially in the Charles River 
Basin at Boston where, owing to the protection 
afforded by the great city, the birds are unusu- 
ally tame and unsuspicious. 
The spring is of course the time when the 
courtship actions are most indulged in, and they 
begin in mild days in February and continue 
until the departure of the birds for the north 
early in April. In the autumn months, how- 
ever, it is not uncommon to see the same per- 
formance given both by the adults and young 
males, although but incompletely carried out 
in the latter case. 
The courtship action varies considerably, 
but a typical and complete one may be de- 
scribed as follows: One or more males swim 
restlessly back and forth and around a female. 
The feathers of the cheeks and crest of the male 
are so erected that the head looks large and 
91 
