. Birds & nature. Birds; Natural history. WOOING BIRDS* ODD F all the interesting points on which Mr. Dixon touches in his " Curiosities of Bird Life," perhaps none is more remarkable than the strange antics in which some birds indulge, especially at the pairing season. With what odd gestures will a smartly dressed Cock-sparrow, for instance, endeavor to cut a good figure in the eyes of his demure and sober-tinted lady-love ! To a similar performance, though with more of dignity and action about it, the Blackcock treats his wives, for, unlike the better conducted though of
. Birds & nature. Birds; Natural history. WOOING BIRDS* ODD F all the interesting points on which Mr. Dixon touches in his " Curiosities of Bird Life," perhaps none is more remarkable than the strange antics in which some birds indulge, especially at the pairing season. With what odd gestures will a smartly dressed Cock-sparrow, for instance, endeavor to cut a good figure in the eyes of his demure and sober-tinted lady-love ! To a similar performance, though with more of dignity and action about it, the Blackcock treats his wives, for, unlike the better conducted though often much calumniated sparrow, he is not satisfied with a single mate. One of the most characteristic of spring sounds on Exmoor, as evening dark- ens, or, still more, in the early hours of the morning, is the challenge of the Blackcock. In the month of April he who is abroad early enough may watch, upon the russet slopes of Dunkery, a little party of Blackcock at one of their recognized and probably ancestral meeting-places, by one of the little mooreland streams, or on the wet edge of some swampy hollow. Each bird crouches on a hillock, in the oddest of attitudes—its head down, its wings a-droop, its beautiful tail raised —and utters at intervals strange, almost weird notes, sometimes sug- gestive of thepurrofaTurtle-dove,and sometimes more like the cry of chamois. Presently an old cock, grand in his new black coat, will get up and march backward and forward with his neck stretched out and his wings trailing on the ground. Now he leaps into the air, sometimes turning right round before he alights, and now again he crouches close upon his hillock. It is said that in places where black game are few a single cock will go through all this by himself, or at least with only his wives for witnesses. But if there are more cocks than one, the proceedings generally end with a fight. Where the birds are numerous the young cocks, who are not allowed to enter the arena with their elder
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Keywords: ., boo, bookcentury1800, booksubjectbirds, booksubjectnaturalhistory
