172 THE ZOOLOGIST. 



ever, I cannot be sure, for, though I have done so on other morn- 

 ings, it was then a little lighter, and this might make the differ- 

 ence between their taking alarm or not. 



4.45. — The first Eeeve in. Much darting about. Some 

 springing and sparring — more prostrating. Then suddenly all 

 off, and back in a few seconds, after one circle. 



Four Eeeves in now. One stands by the brown Buff, two 

 elsewhere, in different places, and by different Buffs. Pairing 

 has taken place six times with the brown bird and five with the 

 blue — and now these two have paired several times more, and I 

 have seen, besides, two other ones pair. The principal pairing- 

 time was between 4.45 and 5.30. 



Impossible to make out satisfactorily whether the Beeves pair 

 with certain Buffs only, or promiscuously, but I think it is the 

 first.* A Beeve with something distinctive about her, and who 

 pairs with the blue bird, I have not seen pair with the brown, 

 though both sit — and pair — near together. Nor have I been able 

 to make out the brown bird pairing with more than two Beeves. 



There are now frequent sudden flights off of all the birds, 

 with quick returns. These flights seem often quite instan- 

 taneous, and are certainly not attributable to any extraneous 

 cause. They are a psychological phenomenon, a part of the 

 tout ensemble of Buff habits when thus assembled together at 

 the pairing-place. Such common impulses of various kinds 

 affecting large— sometimes enormous — numbers of birds at one 

 time are frequent in bird-life, and are not, in my opinion, to be 

 accounted for on any theory known to and admitted by what is 

 called orthodox science. 



Each Buff has certainly a place of its own, and the most 

 envenomed fights appear to me to result from one bird pitching 

 down in another's place, when he flies in. The aggrieved bird 

 instantly rushes at the intruder, and there is a fight which may 

 last for a longer or shorter time. The birds have then a 

 perfectly frantic appearance. They kick, strike with their wings, 

 and especially endeavour to bite or peck each other. This biting 

 is very noticeable, the mandibles seeming to snap with rage. 



* A good example is the sudden hush which falls upon a whole shrieking 

 ternery. I ani speaking of a widely extended one. But see pp. 181, 182, and 

 in the continuation. 



