28 
THE CONDOR 
Vol. XIII 
forty years ago, that is to say with the neck folded ov’er on the back. In the skin, 
however, the head was differently disposed, being placed on its side to save as 
much vertical space as possible in the cabinet drawer. The living bird would 
ordinarily remain in the attitude just described from half a second to a full 
second or perhaps two seconds but rarely longer than that. At the close of this 
brief period of inaction the head and neck would swing forward, usually less 
rapidly and abruptly than when carried backward, sometimes pausing for a 
moment when the mast-head posture might be taken, but, as a rule, continuing to 
move without decided halt until the normal position was resumed. Rather oftener 
than not this entire performance was unaccompanied by any sound that reached 
my ears, even when the birds w^ere near at hand, but not infrequently the paaap 
was heard. As nearly as I could ascertain it w^as giv'en only when the head was 
raised above the back or shoulders and either moving slowly forward or fixed for 
an instant, perhaps in the mast-head position; but it was difficult to be sure about 
this, for allowance had to be made for the time required for sound to travel one or 
perhaps two hundred yards. It is possible, therefore, that the note was occasion- 
ally uttered when the occiput of the bird was still resting on its back or rump, but 
if so I failed to satisfy myself that such w^as ever the case. The best evidence as 
to the precise instant wdien the call was emitted w'as afforded, I thought, by the 
shower of w'ater that the bird usually (but by no means invariably) kicked into. the 
air wdien calling. As nearly as I was able to determine, this action either accom- 
panied or very closely followed the production of the vocal note. It may be how- 
ever that the interval betw'een the tw’o is longer than my observations have led me 
to suppose. 
The Whistler drakes often indulged in forms of gesturing or posturing more 
or less nearly akin to some of those already described 3'et different in certain re- 
spects. Thus they wmuld sometimes take the bowsprit or topmast posture without 
becoming rigid in it or maintaining it for more than a fraction of a second. Fre- 
quently they w'ould dip their bills in the water and then extend them as far for- 
ward or upward as they could well reach, at the same time opening and closing 
their mandibles and quivering their throats as if sw'allowing rather violently. On 
closely approaching one another or one of the females they often bobbed their 
heads up and down tw'o or three times in quick succe.ssion. This seemed to be a 
form of polite salutation, but it may have had a different meaning. During most of 
the more pronounced movements of the head, and not infrequently when it was 
held at rest, its feathers were alternately raised or fluffed and depre.ssed or flattened 
down, so that at one instant it looked almost twdce and at the next barely one- 
half its usual size. This was probably done to show' the plumage of the head to 
the best advantage. At least I so concluded as I watched its greenish sheen flash 
and glimmer in the sunlight and then disappear, to blaze out again wdth renewed 
lustre a moment later. The changes in the adjustment of the feathers of the head 
resulted also in striking and very interesting variations in its apparent shape. 
When two or more males were showing off in the presence of the females they 
seemed to perform in a spirit of friendly, or, at least, dispassionate, rivalry. Not 
once during the entire morning did I see one of them exhibit any trace of ani- 
mosit}' or unfriendliness towards another. There w'ere no threatening or intimid- 
ating gestures and no apparent desire to interfere wdth one another in any way even 
when several males were grouped about a single female. Indeed they appeared to 
be almost wdioll}' absorbed in their attentions to the females and to maintain to- 
wards one another an air of cool yet perfectly polite indifference or aloofness. This 
apparent absence of any sexual jealousy on their part struck me as being very re- 
