Page:The British Warblers A History with Problems of Their Lives - 4 of 9.djvu/58

 placing a young one upon the hand, which will generally be sufficient to cause it to utter its alarm note. The female will then settle upon a branch near, and falling from thence in a helpless manner on to the ground will proceed to run about, with her wings and tail outspread to the fullest extent, and the feathers all over her body relaxed; the call note at the same time being rapidly and continuously uttered. Her whole demeanour is one of abject misery, although the attitude assumed is one of great beauty, and is similar in almost every respect to the actions of the male during the period of sexual activity. The performance will be repeated so long as the offspring continues to attract attention.

In this manner many species apparently simulate the actions of a wounded or injured bird in order to entice an intruder away from their young or their eggs. I have personally witnessed many such cases in addition to this one described, and have not hesitated in the past to attribute them to the same cause. But investigations, pursued with the object of observing the effects of excitement when produced by various causes upon the same species, have led me to examine the whole evidence afresh, with the result that I am now inclined to doubt this interpretation.

Both sexes of the Blackcap, when the young are interfered with, appear to reach the utmost limit of excitement, fluttering and running about the ground. The Partridge (Perdix cinerea), when her offspring are suddenly approached, becomes frantic with excitement. Spreading out her tail, she raises the feathers on her back, and in a crouching attitude runs rapidly about with drooping wings, uttering her note piteously. If the Reed Bunting (Emberiza schœniclus) is startled while on her nest, she acts in a similar manner, running about amongst the thick tangled undergrowth with her tail outspread and all her feathers relaxed. The Wild Duck (Anas boscas), when anxious about her young, sometimes flaps along the water or the ground, and even hobbles in an apparently helpless condition. But she does not always do