BLACKCAP 



but very pretty flapping flight, similar to that used by other 

 species under stress of great excitement, he settles near her, 

 and gives expression to his feelings by the long low plaintive 

 whistle to which I have already referred when speaking of 

 the contests for the breeding territory. If she happens to be 

 calling him, he may possibly dart out at her, and they will 

 then both twist and tumble about in the air. In some cases 

 the male will keep returning to his particular branch at the 

 top of some tree, from which, when the female is present, he 

 darts headlong into the bushes, gradually working his way 

 back again to the favourite branch. During the courtship 

 there always seems to me a distinct unwillingness on the part 

 of the male to go beyond the boundaries of his territory ; the 

 female often does so, and this, I believe, is a cause of their being 

 apart from one another for short periods of time, and it may 

 be that during these periods the male returns to his favourite 

 branch, behaving as he usually does on his first arrival, but 

 no doubt keeping a close watch on her movements. Some- 

 times a male is still more restless, and between the outbursts 

 of excitement shown when in the vicinitj 7 of the female, will 

 fly backwards and forwards over a considerable area, never 

 many minutes in the same spot, but moving rapidly from tree 

 to tree and bush to bush, occasionally bursting into song. 

 As showing the degree of excitement of the male at this 

 period, I have seen one, prior to the arrival of a female, 

 executing a dance which consisted of a series of jumps up 

 and down on a branch, giving the bird a very comical appear- 

 ance. Such a dance is not an uncommon thing in bird-life, 

 but generally — in the case of the Song-Thrush for instance — ■ 

 it consists of a series of bounds from side to side. 



Where two unpaired males have territories adjoining, and 

 a single female arrives in the territory of one of them, the 

 other one sometimes leaves his own territory and follows her 

 together with the rightful owner, both of them behaving in 

 the usual manner. When thus engaged I have seen two 

 males within a few feet of one another, almost, if not quite, 



13 



