Page:The British Warblers A History with Problems of Their Lives - 2 of 9.djvu/32

 During the actual courtship the female, moving quietly from place to place, calls loudly and continuously with a very plaintive long-drawn note to the male who follows her; off and on he darts at her with a very quick flight, resulting in a mimic battle, but although the clicking of their bills as they meet is plainly audible, yet it is not difficult to see that it is all a game, or rather part of the wooing.

If it is in the tops of the taller trees that he is following her, she works her way gradually, as she moves along, lower and lower down even on to the ground, where she hops about; but he, while she is here, not being able apparently to carry on his courting, moves away in search of food, and this they both do for a time contentedly, each in his or her own direction. But they do not seem to be able to do without one another's companionship for long, and so perhaps she will call to him—a call he very soon answers—or while calmly feeding a sudden impulse seizes him, and he darts off headlong to find her. This time he may be more active in his courtship, and, following her closely with quivering wings, utters a curious buzzing sound; another time he will float towards her through the air, like a very big moth, with his wings outstretched and slowly flapping. This is one of the prettiest aspects of the courtship, especially when, instead of floating straight towards her, he approaches her in semicircles: the great beauty of it lies in the way in which he beats the air with his wings; this he does so very slowly as to give one the impression that he ought not to be moving at all. In any attempt, therefore, to portray this, the principal beauty is lost.

In this manner of courting he is not alone, for Blue Tits (Parus cæruleus). Hedge-Sparrows (Accentor modularis), and Lesser Spotted Woodpeckers (Dendrocopus minor) do the same thing. When floating through the air he sometimes utters a curious note, but is more frequently silent. Other positions assumed during his courtship are also very beautiful, the feathers often being raised and fluffed out. One position