266 Ornithological Observations in Shetland. 



that bounds the higher dry-stone beach — they were pursuing 

 one another in sportively amorous fashion, piping one-notedly, 

 the while. The ' chord of self,' however, has not ' passed out 

 of sight ' (or become double) along these lines, whether in 

 music or otherwise, since if it becomes apparent to the one that 

 the rock which the other has chosen is yielding a rich harvest, 

 the former flies down upon it, and puts the prior harvester to 

 flight. Whether the parts played by the actors in this small 

 drama are constant or interchangeable I cannot state positively, 

 the sexes, in appearance, being indistinguishable. Nor is it to 

 be settled by internal evidence, since with birds, at any rate, 

 the hen is quite capable of being in the wrong. The Rock 

 Pipits, also, seem to spend their time, when not actually feeding, 

 in little flights after one another, uttering, the while, a weak 

 little ' pseep, pseep.' ' A solitary, serious creature, little caring 

 for the society either of members of its own or of other species ' * 

 Thus, Gaetke describes this bird, and again, though this may be 

 upon a fine spring morning,' he says, ' solitary, serious and 

 active, and without displaying any particular shyness in regard 

 to man, it performs the various functions of its daily existence.' f 

 But in these the whole of the activities connected with the 

 reproduction of the species are included, and the fact that noth- 

 ing whatever is said about this well-nigh half, and certainly 

 most interesting part of the whole, renders the above descrip- 

 tion, which purports to be a general one, negatively, at least, 

 very deficient. The deficiency is greater than might be 

 imagined for, according to Gaetke, who, of the ' various func- 

 tions ' has (except for the call-note, which is just mentioned) 

 only said anything about one, the bird ought, by its present 

 conduct, to approve this summing-up of its character, for it is 

 not even spring now, but half way through October. It 

 should be 'searching for food, walking step by step, only rarely 

 at an accelerated pace, over the sea-tang on the shore, or on the 

 rocks and debris exposed at low tide, uttering its call-note only 

 when taking to flight,' \ etc., and in this, or in anything else it 

 might be doing, it ought to be quite by itself. Yet here it is, 

 neither solitary nor, apparently, for the moment, hungry. 

 For the Rock Pipit can love, and since the actual business of 

 love is now over, the actions here mentioned exhibit it in a 

 light not compatiable with the rigour and circumscription of 

 Gaetke's description. We see the bird emotionally acted upon, 

 at a time when emotion is no longer necessary for the con- 

 tinuance of the species. As with us, that force through which, 

 if at all, life is to maintain itself, has produced its quite similar 



* Heligoland as an Ornithological Observatory. Translated by Rudolf 

 Rosenstock, M.A. (Oxon.), 1895, p. 342. 

 t Ibid, p. 343. 

 \ loc. cit., p. 342. 



Naturalist, 



