24 THE ZOOLOGIST. 



of the Blackcock are much the same as those which obtain in 

 the case of the Euff — that is to say, that the female is won by 

 assiduity, or superior attractions, and not by fighting, or force 

 applied to herself. This hen, for instance, rejected both the 

 birds that courted her, not, in all probability because she was 

 indifferent to such courtship in itself, but simply because she 

 required to be better pleased. She looked, as I say, quite 

 conscious of what the performance meant, and here, as with the 

 Buffs, and, in my opinion, all female birds (except, perhaps, 

 where the relations of the sexes are reversed), the power seemed 

 to lie in her hands. Probably— or possibly— owing to the 

 earliness of the season, the feelings of neither sex are yet suffici- 

 ently advanced for pairing to take place. 



April 21st.— Arrive at the usual time. From the "tchu- 

 whai-ing " and the soft " choc-kerada "—that plaintive note of 

 war — some birds it seems, are on the ground, and now, in flashes 

 through the gloom, the white tail of one, here and there, and 

 then its coal-black body appears. But, as the day breaks, all is 

 silent, and not a bird visible. Nor do any come down again. 

 It is another blank morning. 



April 24th.— On the ground at 3.20 a.m., but nothing to 

 record. 



April 25th. — On arriving at near 5 a.m., I found several 

 cocks on the ground, which made me regret not having come 

 earlier — for I like to see things from their first beginnings. 

 There was, now, more flying, for short distances, over the ground, 

 and again alighting. This indeed was a feature, and, as the 

 birds flew, they often uttered a deep note — " tchu-u-u " — which 

 had a warning and threatening character. They did not, how- 

 ever, leap into the air. The war-dance, or frenzy, even in its 

 incipient stage, was wanting. 



A hen now flew into a small tree, close to where the cocks 

 were, .and I then saw that there were two more hens there on 

 the ground. There was now some courtship, but it was of a 

 very sluggish nature, nor did the presence of the hens have any 

 marked effect upon the cocks, in regard to each other. There 

 had been no fighting before, and there was none now, though, 

 of course, there is always an idea of it. It is, so to speak, in 

 the air, but does not — that is to say, I have not yet seen it — 



