his failure, he drops down, emitting harsh, guttural chirps, to resume his stand.  Meanwhile the female is invisible, keeping closely concealed under the long grass.  But at length, attracted perhaps by the bright bosom and aerial music of the male, she occasionally exhibits herself for a few moments, starting up with a wild zigzag flight, and, darting this way and that, presently drops into the grass once more.  The moment she appears above the grass the male gives chase, and they vanish from sight together.”

“Courtship with the mallard,” says J.G.  Millais (Natural History of British Ducks, p. 6), “appears to be carried on by both sexes, though generally three or four drakes are seen showing themselves off to attract the attention of a single duck.  Swimming round her, in a coy and semi-self-conscious manner, they now and again all stop quite still, nod, bow, and throw their necks out in token of their admiration and their desire of a favorable response.  But the most interesting display is when all the drakes simultaneously stand up in the water and rapidly pass their bills down their breasts, uttering at the same time a low single note somewhat like the first half of the call that teal and pintail make when ‘showing off.’  At other times the love-making of the drake seems to be rather passive than active.  While graciously allowing himself to be courted, he holds his head high with conscious pride, and accepts as a matter of course any attention that may be paid to him.  A proud bird is he when three or four ducks come swimming along beside and around him, uttering a curious guttural note, and at the same time dipping their bills in quick succession to right and left.  He knows what that means, and carries himself with even greater dignity than before.  In the end, however, he must give in.  As a last appeal, one of his lady lovers may coyly lower herself in the water till only the top of her back, head, and neck is seen, and so fascinating an advance as this no drake of any sensibility can withstand.”

The courting of the Argus pheasant, noted for the extreme beauty of the male’s plumage, was observed by H.O.  Forbes in Sumatra.  It is the habit of this bird to make “a large circus, some ten or twelve feet in diameter, in the forest, which it clears of every leaf and twig and branch, till the ground is perfectly swept and garnished.  On the margin of this circus there is invariably a projecting branch or high-arched root, at a few feet elevation above the ground, on which the female bird takes its place, while in the ring the male—­the male birds alone possess great decoration—­shows off all its magnificence for the gratification and pleasure of his consort and to exalt himself in her eyes.”  (H.O.  Forbes, A.  Naturalist’s Wanderings, 1885, p. 131.)

“All ostriches, adults as well as chicks, have a strange habit known as ‘waltzing.’  After running for a few hundred yards they will