But these quaint antics are only the preliminaries to still stranger. A pair of birds, engaged, apparently, solely in fishing and feeding, will suddenly approach one another and begin head-shaking, each striving to outdo the other. Then the ears, till now erect, are thrust out laterally, and the ruff is still further erected till it forms, with the ears, a common disc. Then the hen dives: immediately after down goes the cock. After some fifteen seconds or so she appears at the surface again, speedily followed by the cock, who breaks out about five-and-twenty yards off. Each crouches low over the water, and each will be seen bearing a tuft of weed in the beak. As each sights the other a tremendous rush is made, as if they intend to charge. But when about a yard apart each springs up and assumes the penguin position, save that the beak, instead of pointing downwards, is now held horizontally and bears its burden of weed. Still approaching, they eventually touch one another, treading the water and swaying in a sort of ecstasy, all the while shaking their heads from side to side. Then they gradually settle down into the normal swimming pose, though still keeping up the head-shaking; then this, too, subsides, the weed is dropped, and the performers drift apart and begin feeding. But no actual pairing accompanies these strange performances. This final rite is associated with a quite different ceremonial, and was witnessed more than once by Mr. Huxley. On the particular occasion which he describes he was watching a male swimming along near the reeds, apparently on the look-out for something, and turning his eyes in the direction of the course, he saw, at some distance off, what he supposed was a dead grebe lying hunched up in the water, with outstretched neck, and ruff and ears depressed. Presently the male swam alongside the body and bent down his head as if to examine it. Then he swam to the tail end, and suddenly scrambled out of the water on to the body; and there, with bowed head and depressed ears and crest, he seemed to stand a moment. Then he waddled forward over its head and into the water. Instantly the supposed corpse raised its head and neck, gave a sort of jump, and was swimming by the side of its mate. They had been pairing on a half-made nest, whose surface lay level with the water. [Illustration: Plate 25. _From a drawing by H. Grönvold._ A MALE-SAVI’S WARBLER —in one of his “courtship” attitudes. Note the leaf held in the beak. [Face page 152.] Mr. Edmund Selous seems to have witnessed some almost incredible behaviour on the part of the owners of a nest he had under observation, inasmuch as, on more than one occasion, he declares the male lay prone upon the nest and the female assumed the position of the male. After this pantomime both would leave the nest, but commonly the female would speedily return and pairing would be duly performed.