Jackson's \Vhnd(ili in Captiii'dij. 
197 
earth .surrounding the three sides of the square formed by the 
Uill.^ of grass: liere it has made a beaten ti'aek, forming 
about two thirds of a ciide or a little more, the extreme 
measurement of which is two feet across. I should note here 
that I have noticed no scratching movement, for whereas it 
was loose, newly dug ground, the area used now resembles well 
trodden earth. 
The movement — ijerformance would Ix' the better word — 
commences with the throwing back of the head, jerking 
straight up the stumps of its tail, dropping its wings, 
and the pulling out of its plumage, then it commences to prance 
about, to and iro, backwards and forwards along its ^Jhiygrtnuid, 
uttering the while its noisy, chattering song, the notes (?) 
sounding as if split — this goes on for nearly a minute, then a 
bound is made into the air, usually about a foot high or a 
little less, on dropping to the ground it prances about again 
a little and a higher leap is taken, then another pranc- 
hig run round his playground, another leap, and yet another, 
the last leap usually being the highest, and varying from two 
to three feet; after which it flies away to a branch, to strut 
aljou. there, and puff out its plumage and shake about its 
larger feathers, with a slight rattling or rustling sound before 
settling down to a rest. In the early morning and evening, 
the performances are repeated with very short intervals, but 
are leso frequent during the middle portion of the day. 
As regards the leaps in the air, these take the form 
of an inverted U, so— f| and differ but little in this respect 
whatever the height leapt. I need not describe these further 
as I should only be repeating what I have quoted from the 
"Ibis." 
lie the ground movement, i.e., as regards the dropping 
of the wings, this is very ponounced and is strikingly similar 
to that of the Peacock — the wings are dropped so that they all 
but touch the ground, the primaries being much more extended 
than the secondaries, and the former are shaken much less 
I'apidly than the latter — the vibi-atory movement of the sec- 
ondaries being almost too rapid for the eye to follow. 
There is also another method of attitudinizing, which 
forms part of the ground performance: the bird makes a 
pause in its prancing and plants its feet firmly on the ground, 
