198 : THE ZOOLOGIST. 
excitement, and may be described as blind impulses. This, however, 
is only one-half of my theory, for I believe that under the ever active 
force of natural selection the habit of nest-building has also grown 
out of these movements. It was my observations on the breeding 
habits of the Peewit, more especially, which led me to this con- 
clusion, and, consequently, my paper in ‘ The Zoologist’ (vi. p. 133, 
1902)—in which the facts and arguments are more fully stated than 
in my ‘ Bird Life Glimpses ”—should be read from that standpoint, 
rather than as an attempt to give a full account of the bird’s spring 
activities. I describe minutely certain very significant actions on 
the part of these birds, which I saw, and endeavour to arrive at their 
essential character, together with the direction in which, through 
natural selection, they may have led, or be leading. My views, in 
this respect, were, if I remember, so fortunate as to win, at least, the 
tentative approval of Mr. Howard. Otherwise I have heard no 
further word of them, yet I hope that fellow field naturalists will 
not allow them to be quite buried alive, for, since this is a fate to 
which our fraternity, generally, is much exposed, we should stand 
together against it. 
In regard to the hen Peewit’s appreciation, or otherwise, of the 
chestnut feathers of her mate, my paper contains the following note, 
which I think goes farther than anything which Mr. Farren refers to 
in this connection :—‘ The bird now rises and goes a step or two 
farther off, then again, throwing itself forward, stands, almost per- 
pendicularly, on the breast, at the same time pecking at, and, I 
think, seizing the bits of grass, near, in the beak. ‘The other 
Peewit”’ (the female, as I judged her to be, but, in my opinion, 
the sexes cannot be distinguished with certainty in field observation) 
‘““now comes right up to the rolling bird, and appears to examine 
the lower tail-coverts, or parts adjacent. I cannot say for certain 
whether it actually touches them with the bill, but it appears to do 
so. Upon this, the rolling one flies off, and the other, falling for- 
ward, presses with the breast (I think also pecking), not in exactly 
the same place, but just near it.” Here we seem actually to see 
both the nest-building habits and those of sexual display emerging 
out of blind sexual movements, but, in regard to the former point, I 
have not relied solely on my own observations (they include a few 
other birds), but have quoted, from ‘The Zoologist’ (i. p. 97, 1897), 
some of Mr. Cronwright Schreiner’s highly suggestive ones on the 
nest-making of the Ostrich. 
As to the female Peewit having herself chestnut-coloured under 
tail-coverts, [ do not consider this a difficulty in the way of sexual 
