344 



INDEX 



sound and silence amongst, 289, 

 290; notes of, best described 

 as talking, 291 ; method of 

 yawning of, 291, 292 ; <}>T)(J.T|, 

 the idea of the, applied to, 294 ; 

 psychical state of during the 

 heimkehr, 295 ; wonderful scene 

 of excitement amongst, 294, 295, 

 296. Found dead in plantation, 



295, 296 ; possible reason and 

 theory of keeper in regard to this, 



296. Non-collision of, wonderful, 

 295 ; consort with hooded crows 

 in fields, 296 ; resembling storm- 

 cloud and rain, 298 ; seem as 

 though evolving a language, 299 ; 

 powers of modulation and in- 

 flexion in voice of, 299 ; voice of, 

 unjustly spoken of, 299 ; vocabu- 

 lary of notes of, 299, 300 



Rules, to be guided by in watching 

 birds, 248, 249 



SAND-MARTINS, manner of excavat- 

 ing tunnels, 323, 326, 327, 328 ; 

 both sexes excavate, 323, 324. 

 Sometimes work socially, 324 ; 

 but not as do insects, 324. 

 Make simultaneous flights from 

 cliff, 324, 325 ; sometimes fight 

 fiercely, 325 ; are victimised by 

 sparrows and tree-sparrows, 325 ; 

 length of their tunnels, 326 



Scientific men, indifference of, to 

 extermination, 333 



Sexual selection, as conceired by 

 Darwin, 25; antics, etc., not in 

 the nature of display, no evidence 

 against, 79 ; as having modified 

 some birds both in voice and 

 plumage, 318 



Shags (see also Cormorant), power 

 of ejecting excrement to distance 

 possessed by, 131 ; how useful to 

 the bird, 131, 132; nest of, 131. 

 Manner of diving of, 153 ; dive 

 uniformly, 1 56 ; amiable character 

 of, 163, 165 ; courtship, love- 

 making of, etc., 1 66, 167, 1 68, 

 169, 170; courting antics like 

 those of the ostrich, but with 



significant difference, 169, 170; 

 habit of opening and shutting bill 

 at each other, 170, 176, 177 ; 

 bathing of, 170; gargoyle idylls 

 of, 171, 172, 173, 174, 175, 176, 

 177, 178, 179, 180, 181 ; tendency 

 of, to ornament nest, 174, 175, 

 176 ; change on the nest of, 175, 



176, 177 ; feeding the young, 



177, 178, 179; twitching muscles 

 of the throat, 179, 180 ; char- 

 acter, etc., of the young, 180; 

 guarding the nest and affairs of 

 honour, 181, 182 ; manner of 

 fighting, 181 



Skua, Arctic, diverting attention 

 from eggs or young, 6 1 ; per- 

 secutes gulls, 113, 114, 127; is 

 safe from retributive justice, 114 ; 

 said only to eat fish robbed from 

 gulls, 1 14 ; probability that it 

 would feed by piracy exclusively, 

 115; not seen stooping on fish 

 in water, 115; disgorge fish for 

 each other, 120, 121 ; attacks 

 those approaching its nest, 121 ; 

 swoop made in silence, 121 ; 

 mode of attack, 122, 123 ; blow 

 with feet ineffective, 123 ; both 

 birds often attack, but more 

 usually only one, 125. Combines 

 fraud with force, 125 ; theory as 

 to this, 125. Polymorphism of, 



126, 127 ; sexual selection sug- 

 gested as an explanation, 126, 



127. Seems bolder and more 

 aggressive than the great skua, 



127 ; driven off by kitti wake, 127, 



128 ; feared more by gulls than 

 the great skua, 128 ; extreme 

 boldness of, 139; chased by 

 curlews, 139 



Skua, Great, nuptial habits, antics, 

 etc., 98, 99, 101, 102; powers 

 of flight, 99 ; flight seen to best 

 advantage at sea, 99, loo ; nest, 

 103 ; said only to eat fish robbed 

 from gulls, and secured in mid- 

 air, 114 ; would probably feed by 

 piracy exclusively, 115; not seen 

 stooping on fish in water, 115; 

 young fed entirely on disgorged 



