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, 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, lovemaking 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 midair, 114; would probably feed by piracy exclusively, 115; not seen stooping on fish in water, 115; young fed entirely on disgorged
