NUPTIAL HABITS OF THE BLACKCOCK. 53 



almost, if not entirely, to two who seemed to pick each other 

 out, one, in particular, being nearly always the seeker. They 

 fought in the ordinary manner, sparring up against one another, 

 and, I think, seizing hold with the beak; but though, as I say, 

 it was real fighting, it was not remarkably violent, and did not 

 last long at a time. After a bout of it the bird who had sought 

 the encounter by entering his opponent's territory, got back 

 again into his own, and, having paid some attentions to a hen 

 or two, would again come swelling up, and being received, by 

 the other, with a bold front, the duel was continued. 



There was, now, a fair amount of courting, on the part of 

 various males, but, owing to the nature of the ground, which, 

 though flat, is uneven, and set with tufts of a wiry, brown 

 heather, I could not follow this nearly so well as I should have 

 liked to ; the hens particularly, on account of their smaller 

 size, and brown, heather-like colouring, were often invisible, 

 coming into sight only at intervals, and shortly disappearing 

 again. For these reasons I was only able to get general im- 

 pressions, and can give no detailed account of this or that 

 episode. It appeared to me that, in the manner before described, 

 the cocks went round the hens in rather a wide circle, and that 

 the raison d'etre of this was the showing to advantage of the 

 white tail, which, as the male walked forward, after passing the 

 hen from behind, was presented directly to her view. Also, 

 whilst the actual courting was taking place, the cocks, as I 

 thought, though now in close proximity to one another, were less 

 inclined to engage in combat, the martial spirit seeming to be 

 in abeyance, or put aside for the more important matter of the 

 display ; but again, lest it should be forgotten, I draw attention 

 to the fact that the martial spirit, all along, has been remarkably 

 tame. For the hens, whenever I could see them, they certainly 

 seemed to know they were being courted, but to what extent they 

 were impressed, and whether the object of the males was in any 

 case achieved — though I do not think so — I was unable, for the 

 reasons above given, to say ; I believe, however, that, under 

 such conditions, it is easier than one would imagine to be mis- 

 taken on this point. 



The scene ended by all the birds flying off, on a sudden, just 

 as they might have done had a gun been fired, but there was no 



