of their own. "One of the civilities demanded by the etiquette of the place is that you shall shake hands with everybody you come in contact with night and morning." This practice of excessive hand-shaking seems common to simple folk who live much alone or by themselves, and recalls the same awful ordeal with the Transvaal Boers.[1] "The married women are distinguished from the unmarried ones by a white frill which is worn in front of the head-shawl or handkerchief, and serves the part of a wedding-ring, which is unknown in St. Kilda." To judge from the illustration, this emblem of matrimony is not unlike the badge which widows adopt among ourselves. These St. Kilda ladies have other more universal traits, as when the minister's servant-maid "asked permission to take the hearthrug to church by way of a shawl."
The ornithological fauna of the island may well attract both ornithologist and oologist. The claims of the St. Kilda Wren to be considered specifically distinct from the mainland bird are well set out, and photographs given of the eggs and fledglings of both birds. It would, however, be unwise to accept the ornithological lore of the natives, as Mr. Kearton was told, "in all good faith and sincerity, that Great Northern Divers make no nest at all, but hatch their single egg under their wings," in which position his informant "had himself seen a bird carrying one."
Chapter V., on "Nests, Eggs, and Young," is one of the most interesting in the book, both by its illustrations and subject-matter. Mr. Kearton is of opinion "that birds, like human beings, possess individually varying degrees of intelligence, skill, and energy, and that differences in any of these qualities are to the close observer plainly marked in the constructive character of their work." There are many illustrations of strange nesting sites; of old birds on, and young birds in, their nests; while the chapter closes with a charming vignette of a spider's web covered with hoar frost.
We have read this book with pleasure, and closed it with regret.
- ↑ Other similar traits belonging to these widely separated and isolated peoples are their tastes for sweets, in St. Kilda "especially 'bull's-eyes' and peppermint lozenges"; while nothing delights these islanders more "(men and women alike) than to hear that the enemy is being smitten hip and thigh." The Transvaal Boer should spend a sea-side holiday at St. Kilda.
