Ornithological Observations in Shetland. 267 



by-product of enduring affection. Whether the latter, ' bright, 

 consummate flower ' though it may seem to us to be, is not a 

 little tainted in its origin, is a question which we must all 

 answer in our own way, that is to say strictly according to 

 temperament, and not at all as being hampered by facts, or 

 through logical inference ; for thus do ' views ' grow up in the 

 human mind, that is to say in the majority of human minds. 



A number of Kittiwakes are now standing together on the 

 beach, at the end of the voe, all of which except one, have the 

 green bill and legs of the mature bird. A Crow — all the Crows 

 here are ' Hoodies ' — hops up, with a sort of bullying air to 

 within a few feet of one of these Kittiwakes — not the single 

 juvenile one — and, making a sideway offensive movement, 

 or pretence of it, puts him to flight. After this, he pecks about 

 a little, and then walks up, nearer still, to another of them, 

 but without any demonstration, and this one stands firm. It 

 looks as if the Crow wished merely to assert himself as cock of 

 the walk, to hint that the ' force majeure ' lay with him, and 

 that the position thus laid claim to was recognised by the 

 Kittiwakes. There is a Herring Gull with its young one 

 amongst this group of ' coloured ' Kittiwakes. Going back to 

 the other groups, at the opposite end of the beach, who have 

 now settled on the grass above it, I note that they have, for 

 the most part, unmistakeably black or dark bills, whilst in a 

 few, they are more advanced towards the bright greenish hue. 

 There seems, therefore, to be a tendency for the birds to 

 associate, according to colour, but, in the present instance, 

 this applies more to the bill and legs than to the plumage. 



I now walk on, along the shore of the neighbouring loch, 

 and find the Kittiwakes assembled on one of their usual gather- 

 ing-grounds near its farther end. I take up my position on 

 a mass of rocky earth, three hundred to three hundred and 

 twenty paces distant, and having seated myself, turn the 

 glasses upon them, placing them first, as is my plan for long- 

 continued observation, on the seat of my walking-stick camp- 

 stool. * 



* This I find admirably adapted for this purpose, since, with a hand 

 on the cane margin of each wing of the seat, they can not only be kept 

 quite motionless, but also be moved very steadily, either from side to 

 side or in a wide half circle, as occasion may require. As it happens, the 

 mechanism of the seat so fits itself to that of the glasses, that, unless for 

 aerial observation at a high angle, it is not even necessary to strap them 

 on to it, which however, can easily be done. What is of still greater 

 advantage is that the point of the stick, very often, need not rest on the 

 ground at all — or even on one's waistcoat or trousers — for it can be held 

 so firmly in both hands, whilst one sits, as to render this quite superfluous. 

 As, in all my watching, I have been accustomed to carry this particular 

 kind of camp-stool, I have never felt the want of any fixed rest for the 

 glasses. Fixity in field observation must be attended with certain 

 disadvantages. The above may perhaps be of use as a hint to fellow 

 observers. 



1917 Aug. 1. 



