THE SEA HAWK 187 
say, of the Moderator of the Church of Scotland. 
No union surely could be more proper than 
that. 
In size and coloration of plumage the males 
were indistinguishable, but fortunately one of 
them had the web of one of its feet torn. I could 
thus discriminate between the two birds, and 
note with certitude the individuality of each. I 
could be positive that it was sometimes the bird 
with the cut web that stood sentinel next to the 
hen, and that sometimes it was the bird with the 
entire web. The female, too, besides her con- 
siderable advantage in size, was also distinctly 
marked, the web of each of her feet being torn. 
These rents resulted probably from struggles with 
the much smaller but fierce and active Mutton 
bird. Each of the three Sea Hawk sharing this 
nest could be thus distinguished at a glance. 
Racial rules of conduct are in the long-run 
based on the tastes and inclinations of the indi- 
vidual. Between the relations of these three units 
of this particular species and anything in human 
custom and law there is a great gulf fixed. 
Amongst birds the sexual appetite is absent for 
the greater part of the year. Even in respect 
to those ascribed by the ancients to Venus—the 
Sparrow and the Dove—both are semi-domesti- 
cated. No more than those of poultry are their 
habits the normal habits of wild birds of the 
