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[[circle]] 174 [[/circle]]

[[underline]] modestus [[/underline]], Dec. 3, 1955, III.

Just watching some interesting pairing behavior. Essentially the same as the stuff seen before; but more stereotyped. Almost a classical example [[male symbol]] & [[female symbol]] run together, do M & HF-O-L-T. Then both in V-HF. [[Female symbol]] runs away about 15 yds, stops in V. [[Male symbol]] runs to be in M, HF when he gets there, then V & HF; [[female symbol]] just does V plus HF. Then [[female symbol]] run away again; stops. [[Male symbol]] runs after her in M, HF when he gets there, then V&HF [[female symbol]] just V&HF. [[Female symbol]] runs away again, and the whole procedure, ie running away followed by V's & HF's by [[female symbol]] and running after the [[female symbol]] in M followed by HF's, V's & HF's by the [[male symbol]], is repeated again & again ([[underline]] 14 times in all [[/underline]]) Then [[female symbol]] flies away.

There are a few further points to be noticed about this sequence. [[Male symbol]] once did O-T after [[female symbol]] left him [[female symbol]] once did 3 LCN's after leaving the [[male symbol]], when he was slow to follow her!! [[Female symbol]]'s running away was definitely escape most of the time (probably all of the time, but I couldn't always be sure); preceded by a slightly anx type of V, and the run itself was extremely rapid and not directed toward any other bird. The posture in which she ran, however, was rather peculiar, (probably common enough, but I just haven't paid enough attention to it) V, long neck, thin neck, slightly arched at top of neck, perhaps slight trace of "egg" but very slight, bill pointed strongly downward. [[Illustration]] Neck inclined quite strongly forward. (The whole thing was perhaps slightly reminiscent of the O posture of the Silver Gull). I am afraid that I may just possibly have called some postures like this "Agg V" in some of my hostile counts. In any case it is so similar to the "Agg V" morphologically, that it is obvious that one shouldn't make any distinction between "V" & "Agg V" in anything as crude & rough as these counts. (The actual posture itself is much like the posture through which a bird passes when giving an HF with a strong downward component. [[pencil marks]]). This is certainly one of the few relatively non-aggressive postures I have ever seen in which the bill was pointed strongly downward Presumably the whole aggressive component of the pattern was "expressed" in the bill angle, the rest being "pure" escape.