enberg@html@files@50175@50175-h@50175-h-8.htm.html#Page_329" class="pginternal">329, 330, 331, 332;

habit of building platform of male, 331, 332

Great Plover, haunts of, 4;

manner of sitting, 4.

Fanciful resemblance to Don Quixote, 4, 5, 18;

and to the Baron of Bradwardine, 4, 5, 20.

Odd actions of, 5, 6;

chase of moths, etc., by, 6, 7, 8.

Autumn dances of, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15;

suggested motive for, 15.

Wailing notes or "clamour" of, 10;

ordinary flying note of, 10;

nuptial or courting antics of, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20;

an old-fashioned bird, 16

Great Green Woodpecker, spiral ascent of trunk, 243;

assisted by tail, 243;

can descend trunk backwards, 244

Greenfinch, at straw-stack in winter, 199, 201;

feeding within three feet, 201, 202;

manner of feeding, 202;

manner of fighting, 210.

Feeding on seeds of exotic fir, 231, 232, 233, 234, 235;

manner of loosening the seeds, 231, 232, 233, 235, 236;

curious noise made with beak in so doing, 231, 232, 233;

and with wings on the fir-needles, 234.

An example of sexual selection acting in two directions, 318

Guillemots, diving of, 152;

arrangement of, on ledge, 182, 183;

disparity in time of laying, 183;

affectionate conduct of paired birds, 183 312" class="pginternal">312;

does not include every excellence, 312;

frequent pauses in, 312;

when at its best, 313;

effect of, on Heine, 313;

and on others, 313;

sometimes mistaken for that of thrush, 313, 314;

by day not more noticed than that of lark or thrush, 314;

some of effect of due to night and silence, 314, 315.

Sobriety of colouring exaggerated, 316;

brightness of tail, 316;

ruddy patch on, 316, 317;

glossy appearance of, 317, 318;

example of a bird doubly distinguished, 317;

may be getting brighter, 318;

pictures of, in natural history books, 318;

real appearance of, 319;

sings without pose, 319;

and sometimes on ground, 319;

Milton fortunately not familiar with, 319;

female alone builds nest, 319;

is attended by male, 319

Nightjar, sound with the wings made by, 52;

movements of, to protect young, 60, 61;

seem result of nervous shock or mental disturbance, 61;

twitching of muscles of throat of, 179;

must wait a little, 337

Night-raven, possible origin of idea of, 288

Nut-hatch, feeding on seeds of exotic fir, 231, 232, 233, 234, 235;

manner of loosening the seeds of, 233, 235

Organisms, plasticity of, 48

Ostrich, courting or nuptial antics of male, 169;

incubation shared by the sexes, 169

Partridge, movements of, to protect young, 60, 61.

At straw-stack, 199, 205;

coming down to, on a winter morning, 205.

Soft sounds made by, 205

Peacocks, shot in India, 206

Peewit, cry of, 25;

somersaults thrown by, 26;

sound made with wings, 27;

bridal dances of, 26, 27;

flying with hooded crow, 27, 28.

Attacking hen pheasant, 27;

a 5-h-3.htm.html#Page_123" class="pginternal">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 suggested as an explanation, 126, 127.

Seems bolder and more aggressive than the great skua, 127;

driven off by kittiwake, 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, 100;

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 herrings, 115;

nesting habits difficult to observe, 115, 116;

probably eats heads of herrings disgorged for young, 117, 118;

has no reason to vary diet during breeding-season, as asserted, 118;

suggested origin of its specialised method of feeding, 118, 119;

attacks those approaching its nest, 121;

makes swoop in silence, but utters cry whilst circling between each, 121;

blow with feet ineffective, 122;

attacks almost indefinitely, 122;

mode of attack, 123, 124.

Attack made by both sexes, 124;

an exception noted, 124, 125;

theory in regard to this, 125.

Feared less by gulls than Arctic skua, 128;

mobbed by gulls, 128

Skylarks, aerial combats of, 35, 36;

impressive hops of male in courtship, 49;

song of, how differing from the nightingale's, 312;

effect of if heard at night, 314

Snipe, a familiar example of instrumental music during flight, 52;

modification of tail-feathers by sexual selection, 53;

wings apparent but not real cause of bleating, 53, 54, 55;

different ways of descending to earth, 53, 241, 244;

but can descend backwards, 244;

interesting to watch, 246;

skill in using beak, etc., 246;

sometimes acts like fly-catcher, 247;

his Æsthetic beauty, 247;

his hardiness, 247

Trogons, shot in Mexico, 206

Turtle-dove, courting of male on ground or in trees, 50;

the nuptial flight, 50, 51

Wagtail, must wait a little, 337

Warrener, how affected by beauty, 47

Wheatear, combats and displays of rival males, 66, 67, 68, 69, 70, 71, 72, 73, 74;

his hopping out of character, 68;

conduct of hen whilst fought for by rival males, 68, 69, 71, 72, 74, 78;

chariness of fighting shown by males, 71, 74.

Antics of males not resembling a set display, 77, 78;

attempt to explain these and other antics of various birds, 74 et seq. (to end of chapter).

Power of retaining a mental image, 110;

conduct of rival males similar to that of nightingales 308

Wild Duck, intelligent feigning of injury to distract attention from young, 60, 62, 63;

suggested origin of the habit, 63, 64

Willow-warbler, preference for birch-trees, 253;

pretty behaviour with the catkins of, 253, 254, 255;

reason for this possibly Æsthetic, 255, 256

Wood-pigeons, courting of female by male on tree, 45;

raucous note after pairing, 46;

may hereafter lay in rabbit-burrows, 48;

courting of female by male on ground, 48, 49;

the clapping of wings in flight, 51;

beauty of nuptial flight, 51, 52;

swishing or beating of wings in flight, 52.

Their simultaneous flights, 210;

suggested explanation as to, 215, 216

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ST BERNARD'S ROW, EDINBURGH

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