Bird Watching

INDEX

Animals, figures of, in heraldry may come down from savage times, 102;
teach meaning of our high terminology, 110;
word "love" properly used in connection with, 110;
gregarious, thought-transference more likely in, 222;
careful observation of, advisable, 223;
slaughter of, 224
Authority, no attention to be paid to, 248
Barn-owl, must wait a little, 336
Birds, great range of vision of most, etc., 24, 25;
aerial fighting of, sometimes deceptive, 35;
nesting habits of, must follow general habits, 48;
will vary habits suddenly, 48.
Instinct of feigning injury possessed by some, 59;
suggested origin of, 63, 64.
Pugnacity of, mingled with timidity, 74, 75, 76;
nervous or frenzied movements as aids to courage in, and leading to sexual display of plumage by, 76, 77, 78, 79;
association of three, 82, 83, 85, 90;
sexual feelings of, not always quite dormant in winter, 86, 87, 89;
sportings of, may be selected, 89;
fighting of, tendency to become formal, 109;
frequent difficulty in distinguishing male and female of, 112;
slaughter of, each year, and consequent retardation of knowledge as to, 126;
power of ejecting excrement to distance possessed by some, and suggested significance of this, 131, 132;
can "bring all heaven before our eyes," 143;
female not always coy in courtship, 146;
wings of, when opened in diving show feet are little used, 148;
power of flight in aquatic, how lost or retained, 151, 152;
webbed foot of aquatic, how obtained, 160, 161;
possible relation between opening bill and colour of gular region, 170;
sea, disparity in time of laying of, 183;
watching of at straw-stack, 199 et seq.
Attempt to catch at, 200, 201;
feeding at, 204;
sudden simultaneous flights of small, from, and discussion of, 201, 210, 211, 212, 213, 216, 217, 218, 219, 220, 221, 222, 223;
fighting of small, at, 208.
Self-reliance of, 208, 225;
most timid may be least liable to change, 226;
wariness combined with boldness in, 226;
various, behaving like tree-creepers, 236;
origin of some strange actions of foreign, possibly to be traced in our own, 256;
song of, founded on call, etc., notes in analogy with plumage, 310, 311;
correspondence between call, etc., notes and song of, 312;
matrimonial teachings of, conveyed delicately, 328;
more knowledge of, gained by watching one than by killing or robbing thousands, 332;
killing of, silly as well as brutal, 336;
total destruction of, approaching, 336;
hatred of destruction of, might extend to man, 336
Blackbird, chariness of fighting sometimes shown by male, 76;
pugnacity of hen, 76;
at straw-stack, 199-204;
hen fighting with starling, 204;
a charming nest-builder, 301;
nest-building of, described, 301, 302, 303, 304.
Nest plastered with mud, 304;
suggested origin of this habit, 304, 305;
and future development of, 305, 306.
Habit of plastering of, seldom alluded to, 307;
nest, how differing from that of thrush, 304;
male does not sing during nest-building, 307;
song of, unjustly rated, 312
Blackcap, song of, how differing from nightingale's, 312
Blackcock, readiness to avoid a conflict shown by male, 75
Brambling, at straw-stack, 199, 202;
beauty of, 202, 203
Bullfinch, a bud-eater, 249;
feeding on elms with blue-tit, 249;
acrobatism of, 249, 250;
awkwardness of, à la Harpagon, 250;
manner of securing buds, 250;
attacks blue-tit, 250;
an example of sexual selection acting in two directions, 318
Bunting, at straw-stack, 199
Caress, a possible origin of the, 192
Carnage, difficulty in conjuring up scenes of, nowadays, 135
Chaffinch, combats between the hens whilst collecting materials for the nest, 105.
At straw-stacks in winter, 199, 201;
numbers of, predominate, 208.
Pugnacity of, and manner of fighting, 208, 209, 210;
acting like fly-catcher, 247;
an example of sexual selection acting in two directions, 318
Chinese, a recipe to dislike killing of, 336
Collectors, immense harm done by, 334
Coot, diving of, 158, 159;
in flocks in winter, 160.
Manner of feeding of, 159;
a better diver than the moor-hen, 160;
lobes of toes, how possibly acquired, 160, 161
Cormorants (see also Shag), hop in courtship and for convenience, 49;
their power of ejecting excrements to distance, 131;
nest of, 131;
excelled by shag in diving, 153;
popular idea of, 163;
evil-looking appearance of, 163;
Longfellow's lines on, 164;
Milton in connection with, 164, 165;
similarity to shag in habits, etc., 165, 166
Creature, when observed varying, dubbed new species or variety, 229
Cuckoo, must wait a little, 336
Curlew, peculiarities of, 139;
resemblance to ibis, 139;
an opposite bird, 140;
inconspicuous when on ground, 140;
conspicuous, by contrast, in flight, 140;
flight, ordinary and nuptial, of, 141;
note of, 141, 142;
its connection with the prophet Jeremiah, 141
Dabchick, sporting of three together, with suggested explanation of, 87, 88, 89;
probable way of fighting, 88;
can fly seriously, 149;
his manners of diving, etc., 154, 155, 156;
and claims to a tail, 156
Darwin, sexual selection as conceived by, 25;
his comment on Bate's account of humming-bird destroyed by spider, 52;
his theory that birds can admire, 255;
origin of language, his view as to the, 289
Eider-duck, courting note of male, 142;
suggestions, etc., raised by, 142, 143;
difficult to locate, 143.
The poetry of the family, 143;
female pleasing, 144;
beauty of male, 144.
Courting actions of male, 144, 145;
and of female, 145.
Female active agent in being wooed, 144;
demonstrations of female between two males, 145;
males mobbing females politely, 145;
males, combats between, 145;
dive as a relaxation, 145;
choice and dismissal of suitors by female, 146;
advances of female declined by male, 146;
female not coy, 146;
nesting habits of, 146, 147;
male sitting inland, 147;
charm of watching, etc., 147, 148;
appearance of, under water, 148, 149
Goldfinch, solitary at straw-stack, 203;
beauty of, rivalling bramblings, 203;
manner of feeding of, 203
Great Auk, flight, how lost by, 151
Great Crested Grebe, manner of fighting of, 150;
various ways of diving of, 161;
grace of, 161, 162;
nest-building of, 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, 184;
attention paid to young, 184;
feeding of young, 184, 185, 189.
Incubate with face turned to cliff, 185;
suggested explanation of this, 185.
Lethargy of chicks, 186.
Fish carried to young in beak, 186;
and are often headless, 186, 188;
held lengthways, 187.
Coquetry with fish, 187, 188;
quarrelling of married birds with fish, 188, 189;
birds with fish attacked, etc., 189, 190.
Combats, frequency and character of, 190;
suggested explanation of, 190.
Preening and helping to clean each other's feet, 191, 192;
fighting, usual cause of, 192;
manner of, 192, 193;
a fight on the brink, 193;
will fight whilst incubating, 193, 194;
no respect paid to incubating birds, 194;
management of egg during incubation, 194;
possible trace of lost nest-building instinct, 195;
attitudes assumed, 195;
resemblance to human beings, 195, 196;
stones procured and swallowed, 196;
life on a guillemot ledge, notes of, 196, 197, 198
Guillemot, Black, way of diving, 148;
appearance under water, 148;
appearance and character, 149;
the dabchick of ocean, 148;
a fair flier, 149;
manner of fighting, 149, 150;
and of bathing, 171
Gulls, Black-backed, best watched on island where they breed, 96;
arrangement of, etc., on the gullery, 97;
nuptial habits, antics, etc., 97, 98, 111, 112;
nest-building of, 103, 104, 105;
fighting of females when collecting materials for the nest, 104, 105;
fighting of males, 105, 106, 107;
a gull melodrama, 105, 106;
fighting of two causing excitement amongst others, 107;
fighting not specialised, 108;
importunity of female, 112;
larger size of male, 113;
persecution of, by Arctic skua, 113, 114, 115;
habit of forcing each other or other gulls to disgorge fish incipient, 118, 119;
come near to attacking one, on one's approaching their nest, 121;
mode of attack ineffective, 122
Gulls, Herring, fighting of, 108, 109;
power of retaining a mental image, 110;
curious behaviour of a pair, 110, 111;
habit of forcing each other or other gulls to disgorge fish incipient, 118, 119;
feed young by disgorging fish, 119, 120;
disgorge fish for each other, 119, 120
Habits, variations of, more interesting than of structure, 228;
may be marked in transitu, 229;
plasticity of, 48
Hare, disturbing rooks, 227
Hate, oneself, a good way to, 335
Hedge-sparrow, at straw-stacks in winter, 201, 202
Heine, allusion of to the nightingale, 313
Heron, must wait a little, 337
Herring, going a progress twice, 116.
Head absent in those disgorged by great skua for its young, 116, 117;
possible explanations of this, 117, 118.
Profusion of, brought by great skua for its young, 118
Homer, may be caught up by a butterfly, 335
Hooded Crow, flying with peewits, 27, 28;
frolicking or skirmishing with raven, 137;
curious antics of, 137, 138;
flying with rooks, 296;
consorting with rooks in the fields, 296;
may sometimes roost with rooks, 296;
when with rooks acts as though of the same species, 296
Hudson, Mr, views of, referred to, 79, 80, 81
Kestrel, importunity of female, 112
Kittiwakes, habit of forcing each other or other gulls to disgorge fish incipient, 118;
will turn to bay and drive off Arctic skua, 128;
roosting in extraordinary numbers, 197, 198
Language, idea as to origin of, suggested by rooks, 288, 289
Larks (see Skylark)
Life, study of, as important as that of death, 332
Linnet, an example of sexual selection acting in two directions, 318
Lyre-bird, an example of a highly adorned species which is also musical, 334
Merganser, manner of diving of, 153, 154
Meves, M., on cause of bleating in the snipe, 53
Moor-hen, becoming a partridge or plover, 48;
an orchestra of peculiar brazen instruments, 57.
Manner of diving of, 156, 157, 158;
habit of, may be becoming established, 158;
and may differ in different localities, 158.
Browses grass, 227;
wariness of, 226;
power of drawing an inference, 227;
independent spirit and originality, 227, 228
Naturalist in La Plata, referred to, 79, 80, 81
Nightingale, male not singing much during nest-building, 307;
song of, a vehicle of hatred and rivalry, 308.
Conduct of rival males, 308, 309;
similar to wheatears, 308.
Conduct of female during combats of rival males, 309, 310;
croaking notes of, 310.
Song probably founded on these, 310;
which would account for its low key, 312;
how differing from that of thrush, blackcap, skylark, etc., 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;
and moor-hen, 28.
Call-note on ground, 28, 29, 30;
sporting of two, 30, 31;
upward sweep in flight, 31, 32;
understudying of one another, 32;
aerial combats possible, 33, 42;
aerial evolutions, remarks on, 33, 34;
feigning broken wing not observed, 66;
three flying together, remarks on, etc., 83, 84, 85, 86;
roll over of compared with that of raven, 263
Penguins, flight, how lost by, 151;
manner of diving of, 152
People, mental approach of some, 223;
not explained by such terms as insight, intuition, perception, affinity, etc., 223
Φημη, Greek idea of the, 219;
brought to mind by watching birds, 220, 221, 294
Pheasants, timidity shown by males in fighting, 75;
at straw-stack in winter, 199, 205;
beauty of male, 206.
Curious low notes and piping sounds of, 207;
not quite so soft as those of partridges, 207.
Timidity of, tempered by judgment and individual temperament, 207;
conduct of, when small birds fly off, 207, 208;
males agree together, feeding, 208;
roosting of dove-tailing with last flight home of rooks, 261, 262;
trying to look like a soldier, 283, 284;
dull plumage of hen representing that of progenitor of the family, 310, 311
Pigeons, twitching of muscles of throat of, 180
Puffin, diving of, 152;
disparity in time of laying, 183;
carrying fish crosswise in beak, 187
Rabbit, with young in sandpit, 328, 329
Ravens, molested by gulls, 129;
at first not impressed by, 129;
peculiar croak of, 130;
appearance, etc., of nest of, 130;
behaviour of young in nest, 130, 131;
attempts to see feed young unsuccessful, 132;
add no effect to precipice, 134;
plumage of, 134;
look black at a little distance, 134;
ordinary flight not majestic, 134;
shape of wings of, 134, 135;
effect of number of, over battlefield, 135.
Curious doubtful if these are nuptial, 138;
antics in the air of, 136, 137.
Skirmishing with gulls, 137;
skirmishing or frolicking with hooded crow, 137;
devoted guardians of young, 138;
cunning plan adopted by, 138, 139
Raven Mother, the real one, 133;
appearance and behaviour of, 133, 134
Razorbills, manner, etc., of diving of, 151, 152;
fish, how carried in beak by, 187
Redshanks, handsomer flying than when on ground, 23, 24;
courting actions of male, 24.
Aerial and aquatic combats of, 36, 37;
at first mistaken as to nature of these, 37
Richardson's Skua, objected to as a title, 61
Ring Plover, nuptial flight of, 21, 22;
courting actions of male on ground, 22, 23
Robin, becoming wagtail or stilt-walker, 48;
how it may develop in the future, 229;
occasional aquatic habits of, out of character, 229, 230;
has two figures, 230;
a part of most landscapes, 230, 231;
looks different in different places, 231;
an example of sexual selection acting in two directions 318
Rooks, importunity of female, 112;
simultaneous flights, etc., of, 210, 292, 293, 294;
winter rookery or roosting-place of, 258, 259, 278, 280;
crowd of better than crowd of men, 259;
aerial evolutions, sports, gambols, manœuvres, etc., of, 259, 260, 262, 263, 264, 265, 268, 269, 270, 271, 280, 295;
peculiar burring note of, 260, 282, 283;
powers of flight possessed by, 260, 271;
flight full of effects, 271;
how associated with starlings, 261;
chirruppy or croodling note of, 261, 268, 269;
last flight of, dove-tailing with roosting of pheasants, 261, 262;
roll over of, compared with that of ravens, 263;
two great assemblages of, manœuvrings and different conduct of, 262, 264, 265;
difficulty of supposing that they are led, 213, 265, 266;
if led, should be so habitually, 266, 267;
evidence against theory of leadership, 267, 268, 269, 270, 284, 285;
the caw the business note of, 268;
two bands flying at different elevations, 270;
flight of, at great elevation different to usual flight, 270, 271;
conclusion against theory of leadership, 271, 273;
supposed to employ sentinels, 271;
evidence as to and conclusion against their doing so, 272, 273;
vast assemblage of, 274, 277, 278;
fighting of, 274, 275, 276, 277;
disturbed by hare, 277;
lullaby of, 278, 281;
return of, to winter rookery in evening, 274, 277, 278, 280, 281, 292, 294, 295, 296, 297, 298, 299;
various cries of, 281, 283, 284, 286, 288, 291, 292, 299, 300.
Whishing noise made by, 281, 282, 295;
doubt as to how produced, 282.
"Burring" note of, 282, 283;
morning flight of, from winter rookery, 283, 284, 285, 292;
voice of, pleasing and expressive, 283;
talk kind of Chinese, 284;
tits flying with, 284;
some staying back after general flight out, 285;
actions of, governed by two leading principles, 285;
unknown force suggested by movements of, 285, 286;
some movements of, may be due to thought-transference or collective thinking, 287;
may be origin of the night-raven, 287, 288;
origin of language suggested by, 288, 289;
zones of sound and silence amongst, 289, 290;
notes of, best described as talking, 291;
method of yawning of, 291, 292;
φημη 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 inflexion in voice of, 299;
voice of, unjustly spoken of, 299;
vocabulary of notes of, 299, 300
Rules, to be guided by in watching birds, 248, 249
Sand-martins, manner of excavating 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 conceived 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, 156;
amiable character of, 163, 165;
courtship, love-making of, etc., 166, 167, 168, 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;
character, 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, 61;
persecutes gulls, 113, 114, 127;
is safe from retributive justice, 114;
said only to eat fish robbed from gulls, 114;
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 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, 55, 56;
different modes of flight, 54;
see-saw or "chack-wood" note, 54, 56;
swishing of wings, 56;
extraordinary notes of, 57.
Tail feathers less modified in female, and producing a different bleat, 57;
but difference not great, 57, 58.
Individual differences in bleat, 57, 58;
flying in circles, 58;
bleat best in morning and evening, 58;
flight difficult to follow, 58;
private allotment in fields of air, 58;
bleating of males against each other, 59;
bleating of male and female to each other, 59;
bleating of one answered vocally by the other on ground, 59.
Extraordinary movements when alarmed during incubation, 60, 61;
theory with regard to these, 63, 64
Sparrows, seize burrows of sand-martins, 325;
creditable motives of, in so doing, 325, 326
Sparrows, Tree, at straw-stack in winter, 199;
seize burrows of sand-martins, 325
Species, knowledge lost by destruction of any, 333
Specific life, any, of more value than most individual ones, 334
Spiders, if they had their Phidiases, 52
Spur-winged Lapwing, curious performances of, 81, 82;
suggested origin of, 82, 83, 84, 85, 86, 87, 88, 89, 90, 91, 92, 93, 94, 95
Starlings, acting as fly-catchers, 8, 48;
and as wood-peckers, 48.
Manner of feeding, 9;
at straw-stack in winter, 199, 204, 205;
fighting with hen blackbird, 204;
fighting with each other, 204, 205.
Their simultaneous flights, 210, 214, 215;
difficulty of explaining these and suggestions as to, 214, 215.
How associated with rooks, 261
Stock-doves, their aerial combats, 38, 39;
arising sometimes out of the ground-tourney, 41, 42.
Their ground-tourneys, 39, 40, 41;
bowing of fighting birds to each other, 39, 40, 41;
fighting of male and female, 42, 43;
courting bow of male to female, 43, 44, 45;
bowing of female to male, 43, 44;
bow silent or accompanying note subdued, 45;
court on trees or on ground, 45;
their nuptial flights in early morning, 46, 47;
make nest in rabbit-burrows, 47
Structure, slight changes of, not easy to see, 229
Thought-transference, as possible explanation of some movements of birds and other animals, 219, 220, 221, 222, 223, 286, 287, 289, 290, 292, 293, 294;
a retarding influence, 222;
in man, may be reversion to more primitive method of intercommunion, 223;
may be, in some ways, superior to speech 223
Thrush, Song of, how differing from the nightingale's, 312;
mistaken for the nightingale's, 313, 314;
effect of if heard at night, 314
Tit, Blue, at straw-stack in winter, 199, 202;
acts like tree-creeper, 236, 237, 238, 239.
Ascends trunk perpendicularly, 237;
suggested explanation of this, 242, 243.
Descends trunk head downwards assisted by wings, 237, 238, 245;
suggested explanation, 245.
His hardiness, 247, 248;
eats buds rather than insects in them, 248, 249;
attacked by bullfinch, 250;
feeds on catkins of alder or insects in them, 251, 253;
his tiring-room and banqueting-hall, 253;
drive each other from catkins of alder, 253;
flying with rooks, 284
Tit, Coal, attacks fir-cones, 231;
manner of holding them, 251.
Ascends tree-trunks as does blue-tit, 252
Tits, Long-tailed, nest-building, 320, 321;
"chit, chit" note, 320, 321;
roosting together, 321, 322, 323;
returning to roost in same place, 322, 323;
their prettiness, 320, 321
Tit, Great, feeding on seeds of exotic fir, 231, 232, 233, 234, 235;
manner of loosening the seeds, 232, 235.
Probably eats seeds of indigenous firs, 252
Tree, old, winter foliage of, 201
Tree-creeper, becoming a fly-catcher, 48.
Flies downwards from tree-trunk, 240;
but not invariably, 241;
suggested origin of the habit, 241.
Spiral ascent not so general as asserted, 241, 242;
often ascends perpendicularly, 242;
suggested origin of spiral ascent, 242, 243.
Said never to descend trunk, 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
Wren, acting like a tree-creeper, 48, 236, 237, 238, 239, 240.
Ascends tree-trunks perpendicularly, 237;
descent of doubtful, 238;
sometimes assisted by wings, 240.
Suggestions as to habit and mode of tree-creeping, 242, 243
Wren, Golden-crested, amongst pine-trees, 252;
suggesting humming-bird, 252;
examines pine-needles, 252, 253;
his note, 253
Yellow-hammer, at straw-stack in winter, 199, 201
Zoologists, have been thanatologists, 224;
prefer death to life, 332, 333

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