CHAPTER XXXVI

COMPARING NOTES

Who would have thought that this same gull--the herring-gull--which kills and devours the young kittiwakes and puffins, besides living, habitually, on fish, crustaceans, molluscs, and any garbage it can find, is also a fruit-eater? It is, though, since the black berries of the stunted heather, here, are certainly its fruit, and these it eats, not as an occasional variation of diet merely, but systematically and with avidity. Indeed, these berries, now that they are ripe, seem to me to be the bird's favourite food. I will now give the evidence on which this statement is founded, and which I think will be admitted to be conclusive. During the last week of my stay here, I began to notice, more and more, as I walked over the ness, droppings of some bird, which were of a dark blue, or purple, colour--in fact, a very rich and beautiful dye. These droppings were full of the small seeds of some plant, and upon comparing these with the seeds of the heather-berries, I found them to be the same. They were too large and too numerous to be due to any birds except either gulls or skuas, and as I constantly found them over the domains of the Arctic skua, I thought at first, "_Ye_ are their parents and original." One morning, however, whilst sitting on the rocks, watching my dear seals, there was a down-dropping on my right trouser (workman's cords at 6_s._ 6_d._), making a great splotch of as fine a colouring, almost, as I have seen, and ineradicable, which makes me think that a splendid dye might be produced from these berries--in fact, it was produced. Looking up, at once, I saw a young gull just passing over me, there being no other bird about--with the exception of puffins, which made the atmosphere. Therefore I felt sure it was the gull, nor do I think that Sherlock Holmes, with a similar clue and a sound knowledge of puffins, would have concluded otherwise. Then, too, side by side with these droppings, I had lately been finding pellets such as birds habitually disgorge, formed generally of a mass of the skins and seeds of these same berries, but sometimes containing a certain number of them intact, or but slightly bruised. Some of these had seemed to me too large for any bird smaller than a herring- or lesser blackbacked-gull, and latterly I had found them mixed with the broken shells of mussels, and other shell-fish such as gulls eat, but which skuas, I believe, do not, or, at any rate, not as a rule.

Some of these pellets, by the way, made very curious objects. I have taken a few as specimens, but I regret that others, still more curious, formed of broken pieces of crab-shell, coagulated together into a globular form, which two years ago were very plentiful on the island, I have not this year been able to find. I would here suggest that a collection of this kind would be both interesting and instructive. It would form a key to the diet of every bird represented in it, but its crowning merit--one quite beyond estimation--would be that it would not increase the rarity or cause the extinction of a single species. For these reasons--more particularly the last one--I do not at all anticipate that such a collection will ever be made.

I had already concluded, therefore, that it was the gulls who ate the heather-berries, before I began to see them walking in flocks over the ness, and most assiduously doing so. First this was of an evening--always herring-gulls--then at all times of the day; but the evening continued to be the great time. Just as the kittiwakes, two years ago, used to feed, ghost-like, about my shepherd's-hut, through the short, light nights of June, so here, from my little sentry-box, I began now to watch these larger ghosts, as I sat at the door both eating and cooking my supper. From the door to the stove was a stretch--and there were many stretches--and after one of them the shadows would be fallen, and the ghosts hid, or fled. Then came other ghosts sometimes--all past scenes are ghosts--"_Da hab'ich viel blasse Leichen_," etc. Oh, it was sweet, then, in the little bunk, by the candle in its block of ship-wood, with a rivet-hole for the socket, in the fading glow of the peat-fire, to read the poets I had brought with me--Shakespeare, or Molière, or Heine--in _those_ surroundings. That was the time to read--for it's all over now--amongst the "thens," the shadows--a dream, and so is everything.

This was my last discovery--for it was one for me. Soon after I made it I left this wild northern promontory, regretting, as I shall ever regret, that there is no comfortable little cottage upon it where I might stay, and be looked after--have my porridge made--for several months at a time. To be able to walk out from as much of civilisation as this would amount to into absolute wildness and solitude, returning into it again at the end of each day--that is the life I appreciate. For society there would be the good old body who cooked for me, and her husband--a fisherman, doubtless, with his tales of the sea. With them I could have a crack when I wished to, nor ever sigh for anything higher, since the homely utterances and out-of-the-heart-comings of simple country folks, especially of "the old folks, time's doting chroniclers," have for long been all I care for in the way of conversation. All other irks me, and my mind soon grows confused in it, so that I seem to have no ideas at all, and indeed, have none for the time, except a panting to be gone. Therefore, for the world of men and women here--those masks, those flesh-enshrouded spirits, never to be properly dug up or pierced into, give me but books, and for my own little circle of daily life, it lives in Miss Austen's novels, nor do I ever want to enlarge it. How many readers are there who can say this--that they have ever had one friend or acquaintance with whose loss they could not better have put up than with that of a favourite character in a favourite book? Somebody dies, and you talk him or her over, comfortably, with somebody else; but fancy turning to _Emma_, say, and finding there was no Mr. Woodhouse, or no Miss Bates!

Well, I was soon in a southward-going steamer, and here I read a paper entitled "Observations on the Distinctions, History, and Hunting of Seals in the Shetland Islands," by the late Dr. Laurence Edmondstone, M.D., of Balta Sound, lent me by the present representative of the family, and Laird of Unst, to whom I am indebted for all I have been able to see, either of seals or sea-birds, whilst in that island. Here was something to compare with my own observations, and my first endeavour was to find out the specific identity of the two large seals that I had watched with so much interest. To the best of my ability I have described the exact appearance of each of them, as seen by me, for hours at a time, at close quarters, and often examined through the glasses, and I have speculated on the likelihood of the two representing the male and female of one and the same species. This conjecture is supported by what Dr. Edmondstone says, since he states that the sexes of the great seal (_phoca barbata_) differ much from one another, nor does he think that, besides the great seal and the common one (_phoca vitulina_--as a Scotchman he would surely have approved my emendation here), any other species is to be found around the Shetland coasts. Yet his description of the skin-markings of both the male and female of the great seal does not altogether accord with the appearance of the two I saw. It is as follows:--"Male. The general colour of the body is dark leaden, with irregular and largish patches of black; the belly paler; the head and paws darkest." "Irregular and largish"--or rather downright large--"patches" my sea-leopard, as I have loosely called it, certainly had, but with regard to the rest, I should have said that the colour which alternated with these patches, and, indeed, made counter-patches itself, was a lightish yellow upon the belly, and that the mottled appearance became fainter in ascending the sides, and ceased, or was hardly noticeable, upon the back. There were, thus, two areas of coloration merging into one another, the one very handsome, the other not particularly so; and this was the most salient feature presented. As I saw it, indeed, the belly, turned upwards every time its owner went down, was a magnificent sight, in the effect of which the water, I think, must have played an important part. Therefore, I cannot quite understand any one who has seen it describing the animal other than in terms of admiration, whereas here it is not even termed handsome.

But now, "put case" I had descended the cliff, that day, rifle in hand, intending to get a shot. I should have got one very shortly after the creature had first risen--for it gave ample opportunity--and then, whatever had been the upshot, it would have sunk or gone down without its lazy roll, and consequently without any exhibition of its chief glory. In all probability I should not have seen it again, and I should, therefore, have had nothing to record about its appearance in the water, as seen under exceptionally favourable conditions--for I was looking down upon it from a moderate height. In the same way, had my intention been to shoot the _phocas_, what should I now know of their play, their fun, their humour, their gambolling with spars, wrapping themselves round with seaweed, polite insistence, petulant make-believe, and all the rest of it? Instead, there would have been a shot, _et preterea nihil_--and this, indeed, was just what it was, with me, years ago in the Hebrides. That is what sport does for observation.

Continuing his description of the male of the great seal, Dr. Edmondstone says, "The snout is very elongated; the nose aquiline, very similar in profile to that of a ram; the muzzle very broad and fleshy, and the upper lip and nose extending about three inches beyond the lower jaw, so that in seizing its prey the animal seems obliged, as I have often seen, to make a slight turn, in the manner of a shark." This last is interesting in connection with the roll round on to the back, which my sea-leopard--or rather, great seal--always made, when going down. It shows that it is a familiar motion with this species, and therefore, perhaps, that it might sometimes be indulged in whilst catching fish, even though it were not quite necessary. The common seal also frequently turns on its back in the water, so that I should think the one posture was as familiar to it as the other. Probably, therefore it can catch fish in both. In regard to the female of the great seal, Dr. Edmondstone says, "The skin is of a paler colour, more or less patched with darkish blue, and becomes _lighter_ with age. In two aged individuals, of different sexes, the one appears a pale grey, and the other black." There were no patches whatever on the skin of my bottle-nosed seal, as I first called it, but a _uniform_ "pale grey" describes it pretty well. I have called it a uniform silver, and so, indeed, it looked; but pale grey and silver come pretty close to one another. At first I thought there was a brownish hue, but the more I looked, the more silvery it appeared to become.

According to Dr. Edmondstone, the male and female of the great seal swim in a different way, for he says, "He swims with his nose on a level with the water and the back of his head elevated; the female with the whole head elevated, like the _vitulina_." This, as far as I can remember, was not my experience. The large seal which I first saw, and which I have now little doubt was the female of the _phoca barbata_, sometimes raised the head out of the water, and she _may_ have swum with it so, occasionally and for a short time; but her characteristic way of _swimming_--as distinct from floating upright in the water--was with the whole head and nose just on a level with the surface, and in one line as nearly as possible. In this respect I did not remark any very particular difference between the two. The male, however, uniformly rolled over as he went down, which was not the case with the female,--and his periods of immersion were, for some reason, during the time I saw him, only half, or less than half, as long as hers, whilst he remained up, generally, for a little longer.

In regard to the common seal, Dr. Edmondstone has, like myself, come to the conclusion that it does not post sentinels. He remarks, "It has been said" (I felt sure it had) "that when several seals are resting on a rock, some one of their number acts as sentinel; but this result of discipline or self-denial I cannot say I have seen--_sauve qui peut_ is, I think, rather the watchword." He goes on to say, however, "The herring-gull is their most vigilant _vidette_ at all seasons, as he is of every other kind of our game. The seal he loves especially to take under his wing, and he is the most vexatious interruption to the sportsman." Long may the herring-gull continue to protect the seal!--if he really does so. For myself, I did not see any hint of it, though there was plenty of opportunity; and as he allowed Mr. Thomas Edmondstone to shoot fifty in one year, I fear he cannot be very efficacious. That he will, sometimes, come flying down upon one, with a great clamour, as though objecting to one's presence, and will continue to do this for a great many times in succession, is certainly true. I have been treated in this way several times, and in one instance the gull's persistency, and apparent dislike, were quite remarkable. Now, if one were stalking an animal at the time, it would be easy to construe such action into a wish to protect it; but here no other creature was in question besides myself. The gull's method was to fly to a considerable distance away, and then, turning, to come sailing down upon me, uttering a loud clangorous cry as he passed over my head. Had I been creeping or rowing towards a seal, it is very probable that in the course of these numerous flights, to and fro, he would have approached him more or less closely, and each time I might have assumed that he had a special object--viz. solicitude for the seal's safety--in doing so; whereas the times that he did not do so I might have counted as nothing--forgetting them afterwards--or put down to general excitement.

That either a gull or any other bird should take any interest in the fate of a seal, is to me, I confess, almost incredible. I have read of a curlew giving a sleeping one a flap with its wing, so as to wake it up. I doubt the motive, and I doubt it in every other reported case of the kind. I am quite open to conviction, but it is almost always in general terms that one hears of these things, whereas what one wants is a number of detailed descriptions recounting everything that took place. There is nothing strange in birds becoming clamorous and excited at seeing a man. No doubt, they are actuated by much the same feelings as make the smaller ones mob a hawk, or an owl; but from that to the deliberate warning of another species is a long step, and I have never yet read evidence to convince me it has been made.

Speaking further of the habits of the common seal, Dr. Edmondstone says: "Their time of ascending the rocks is when the tide begins to fall--the water must be smooth and the wind off shore. The favourite seasons are late in spring and early autumn." With so short an experience, perhaps, I should be chary of forming an opinion at variance with that of one who was "for more than twenty years engaged in hunting these animals." But my affirmative evidence is good, as far as it goes, and what a few individuals do for a few days--or even what one does once--is in all probability done habitually by every member of the species. There were two kinds of rocks on which my seals lay, viz. those which were exposed only when the tide was more or less out, and those which were always exposed. They came to the first whilst they were still under water, and established themselves upon them as soon as it was possible to do so, and remained there, as a rule, until they were floated off by the returning tide. The second kind, as represented by one great slanting slab, which was the favourite resort, they ascended and left at all times of the day, without any regard whatever to the state of the tide, the obvious reason being that the tide did not here affect their power of doing so. The rock which one seal made such persistent, though unsuccessful, efforts to get up on to, could only by possibility be scaled when the tide was at the full, and that, and for a little before, whilst it was still coming in, was precisely the time at which he attempted it. At any time, moreover, and just as the spirit moved them, these seals would leave their rocks, and, after remaining for some time in the water, return to them again. Though I did not take any particular notice of the wind--it seemed always to be blowing everywhere--yet I am pretty sure it was not the same each day, and the seals' movements, even as it affected the sea, seemed to bear no relation to it. On one particular day the sea was rough--nothing excessive for these islands, but rough enough for it to be a fine sight to see it dashing against the stacks and jutting cliffs. I did not stay long on that day, and I was hardly any time by the pool to which the greater number of seals--all of the common kind--resorted. I cannot now recall whether there were any lying on the great slab of rock--probably there were, or I should have been impressed by their absence--but, even whilst I was there, one came up on to one of the smaller rocks, and afterwards went off it again, all in the swirl and foam. In ascending, this seal swam in against the backward flow of the wave, and I was struck by the strength and ease with which it stemmed such a rush and turmoil of water. No doubt there must be seas in which seals dare not approach the rocks, but that they do not require it to be calm--I mean, moderately calm--in order to ascend them, this one case which came under my observation is sufficient to assure me. I imagine, however, that what is not too rough for seals may be too rough for a boat, and that therefore they are not often seen by sportsmen on the rocks, except during fair weather.

Were the sea always rough seals would hardly ever be interfered with, and so for their sakes I wish it were. They are absolutely harmless creatures--though some, perhaps, would grudge them their dinner--most interesting and lovable, incapable of defence or retaliation, and of little value when slaughtered. The chase of babies, since it would involve the excitement of breaking into houses, and stealing cautiously upstairs, ought to be as interesting to sportsmen, and no doubt it would be were public opinion in that respect to undergo a change. However, though the carcase is, as I have said--for I have been told so here--of little value, I suppose it is of some, so that a poor fisherman has, at least, an understandable motive in putting them to death, nor can _he_ be expected to feel an interest in anything that really is of interest concerning them. But that an educated man should ever wish to kill seals, being not moved to it by gain, but as a pleasure merely, and from a love of glory, seems to me now like a madness, though as it is a madness which I have myself felt,[22] I ought to be able to understand it. Yet I doubt if I can now--so curiously has something gone out of me and something else come into me.

[Footnote 22: Praised be the Lord, however, I have fired but one shot, and that missed.]

One other remark of Dr. Edmondstone in relation to the rock-seeking habits of seals is at variance with what I observed in my two little bays. He says, "The favourite rocks on which they rest are almost always observed to have deep water round them, are comparatively clear from seaweed, and under water at full tide." Now, the favourite rock on which my seals rested rose to, perhaps, a dozen feet above high tide before it became unscalable, and, to that height, it was regularly ascended by some or other of its occupants. In other respects it conformed to the requirements stated, for the water round it was fairly deep, and above the high-water line--where alone the seals lay--it was entirely bare of seaweed. Other rocks, however, which were habitually resorted to, were by no means so, and many of these were right in shore, where the water was anything but deep, though sufficiently so for the seals to swim at once, when they cast themselves off. The rock where the great seal always lay was a mass of seaweed, and I have mentioned having seen the common ones both play with, and help pull themselves up by, the long brown kind. I cannot help thinking, therefore, that seals do not exercise much choice in any of these respects, but are governed more by circumstances, selecting rocks which, on the whole, they find convenient, and which may be now of one kind, and now another. As, however, rocks which are never submerged are, when accessible at all, always so, these ought, one would think, to possess a great advantage, supposing the seals to have no prejudices in this respect. I do not, myself, believe that they have, and the seal-rocks which I passed in the steamer were such as to support this view.

Putting everything together, I believe that, both in respect to the rocks on which they lie, and the times at which they lie on them, the one and only law by which seals are governed is the law of practicability. It is a very good law, and I wish I had always been governed by it too--I mean beforehand.

INDEX

A

Ambition, a strange, 323 Animals, Memory of, as compared with that of man, 107, 108 ---- Wild, not appreciated, 138, 139 ---- Philistine nomenclature of, 152-4 ---- Sensuous pleasures of, underestimated, 252 ---- Happiness of, as compared with that of savages, 256, 257 ---- Choice of, in regard to one another a necessity, 281-3 ---- Cries of, false value often attached to, 306, 307 ---- Minds of some people in strange state about, 307 ---- Wild, hearts of, seldom explored, 323 ---- Have no rights, 348 Appeal against God, an, 333 Arctic Skua, Persecution of terns by, 9-13; not always successful in chase of, 10 ---- Suggested origin of piracy practised by, 11, 12 ---- Threatened attack of, rarely made, 10; possible reason of this, 10, 11 ---- Does not hawk at fish, 9 ---- Baffled by rock-pipit, 10, 160 ---- Will leave fish that drops on the sea, 11, 12 ---- May be pirate or highwayman, 13; possible process of differentiation in this respect, 13 ---- Loves brigandage, 14; and plays at it, 14 ---- Wild cry of, 14, 161, 162 ---- Grace, beauty, etc., of, 14 ---- Variety of coloration exhibited by, 15-25 ---- Description of fifteen differently coloured forms of, 15-20 ---- Is multi-morphic rather than dimorphic, 21 ---- Young resembles the great skua in plumage, 22; and also in wanting the lance-like feathers of the tail, 22, 23; these facts probably due to sexual selection, 22-5 ---- Might knock one's hat off under certain circumstances, 94, 151 ---- Puffin robbed by, 133 ---- Its absurd prenomen, 152 ---- Bathing habits of, 160, 161 ---- Chases ravens, 191; its different cry whilst so doing, 191 ---- Black guillemot robbed by, 302, 303 ---- Piracies of, may be turned to account by herring-gull, 302, 303

B

Bacon in frying-pan, companionship afforded by, 3 Bathing, Possible passing of, into an antic in some aquatic birds, 199-201 Bats, Aerial performances of, 134; compared with those of swifts, 134 Birds, Possible loss and reacquirement of the power of flight by some, 7 ---- "Of a feather flock together," 7 ---- Segregation of the sexes of, in, 7 ---- British, process of change and differentiation of, in, 44; advantage of collecting evidence in regard to this, 44, 46 ---- Possible origin of some antics in, 70, 71 ---- Sometimes very rude, 173 ---- Want of uniformity in the actions of, 174 Black Guillemot, Breeds in the Shetlands, 57 ---- Its habit of carrying fish for long time in bill, 68 ---- Manner of swallowing fish of, 69 ---- Fighting of the, 69; may be passing into a sport, 70, 71; will fight with fish in the bill, 71, 72 ---- Wings only used by, in diving, 72 ---- Luminous appearance of, under water, 72, 204 ---- Manner of feeding young of, 72, 73 ---- Cry of, 128 ---- Coloration of buccal cavity of, 128, 129; suggested explanation of, 129-31 ---- Eats seaweed, 203 ---- Wing-patches of, conspicuous under water, 203 ---- Carries one fish at a time, 301, 302 ---- Robbed by arctic skua, 302 Black-headed Gull, Relations of, with peewit, 10 Books, The hundred best, 110 Brodby, Mrs., Missed as a landlady, 190, 191 ---- Pious hope in regard to, 191

C

Cheltenham Corporation, Ducks done away with by the, at Pittville, 65-7 Christianity, Mock trials as between, and paganism, by prejudiced Christian authors, 256 Collector, the, Does more harm than the sportsman, 144, 145 ---- Goal of the, extermination, 145 ---- The biggest-record Thug, 145 ---- His love of Nature, 145 Common Gull, is like common sense, 13 ---- Makes best resistance to arctic skua, 13, 14 ---- A young Christian nationality, 14 Common Seals, seen leaping out of the water, 57, 58 ---- Luminous appearance of, under water, 175, 204 ---- Manner of swimming under water of, 175 ---- A splendid sight of, 213 ---- As seen under different circumstances, 213, 214 ---- Unorthodox attitudes of, 214, 226, 227 ---- Odd actions of, 214, 215, 227 ---- Animals of a finely-touched spirit, 215 ---- Playing with a spar, 216 ---- Practical joking of, 217, 322 ---- A dormitory of, 225, 226 ---- Difference in size, etc., of, 229 ---- Sentinels not posted by, 229, 304, 305, 306 ---- Resemblance of, to a man, 230 ---- At the chosen rock, 231, 259 ---- Bed-times of, not governed by the tide, 234 ---- Perpendicular attitude of, in water, 257, 297, 298 ---- Length of submersions of, 257, 258 ---- Habit of opening mouth of, 258, 259 ---- Sleep floating in the sea, 259, 260; and under the water, 297, 298 ---- Makes the sea a rock, 260 ---- A great sleeper, 260, 298 ---- Sporting of, with seaweed, 321, 322 ---- Should be called _phoca Antiquarius_, 325 ---- Liking shown for special rocks by, 330-33, 345; or particular places upon them, 345, 346 ---- Use made of seaweed by, 332 ---- Activity of, in water, 335, 336; but surpassed by that of the _otariidæ_, 337-41; difficulty of understanding this and parallel cases, 336-41 ---- Sporting together of, in sea, 346, 347 ---- Eat fish in a playful manner, 347 ---- Author's observations on, collated with those of the late Dr. Edmondstone, 373-9 ---- Are governed by the law of practicability, 379 Crouching, Habit of, in birds may have preceded that of flying, 6, 7; or have been resorted to owing to weak flight, 7 ---- Habit of, in young skuas, terns, gulls, peewits, etc., 197; and in stone-curlew through life, as supposed, 6, 197 Cuckoo, Brilliancy of mouth-cavity in, 131, 132; suggested explanation of this through natural selection, 131, 132 ---- Actions of young in nest when disturbed, 132 Curlew, A complaining shadow, 1

D

Darwin, Quoted in reference to lizards on the Galapagos Islands, 52, 53; and in reference to sexual selection, 272-4; anticipated by Swift, 33 Dean Swift, Anticipation of Darwin by, 33 Death, The dance of, encouraged by science, 148 Ducks at the Pittville Gardens in Cheltenham, 64, 65

E

Eagles, A pair of, foiled by pigeons, 158, 159 Eider Duck, Female and young alone seen in late July, 26 ---- Family parties of, 26 ---- Feed sometimes on seaweed, 26-8, 77, 78 ---- Bobbing, etc., of, 28, 29 ---- Mother and chicks feeding on the rocks, 75-7 ---- Feed on mussels, 77, 78 ---- Process of differentiation in feeding habits of, 78, 80 ---- Luminous appearance of, under water, 204 Emotions, Our noblest tainted in their origin, 185, 186 Evil may be the path of advance, 207, 208 Expulsion, Law of, amongst birds, 7; referred to by Gilbert White, 7 Extinction, The scientific charm of, 148 Eye, Accuracy of the ornithological, when helped by a measuring-tape, 34, 35

F

Falstaff in Eastcheap, 343 Fulmar Petrel, Appearance, etc., of young, 88 ---- Actions, etc., of, 88, 89 ---- Lethargy of, 89, 90 ---- Difference between young and old, 90, 91 ---- Domestic habits of, 91-3 ---- Young: how fed, 92, 93 ---- Different coloration of buccal cavity in young and old, 93; suggested explanation of this, 93 ---- Strange error made by author in regard to, 114-16 ---- Nuptial note of, 116, 117 ---- Unangelic propensities of, 117, 118 ---- Marvellous powers of flight of, 118-21 ---- A "delicate Ariel," 118 ---- Nuptial antics of, 125, 126, 202 ---- Æsthetic coloration of buccal cavity in, 126, 127; suggested explanation of, 129, 131 ---- Power of ejecting excrement to a distance possessed by, 165, 166 ---- Statement made by author in regard to, checked, 201 ---- Family parties of, 201

G

Great Black-backed Gull, Swoop of, 2 ---- Will attack arctic skua, 13 ---- Probably not victimized by arctic skua, 13 Great Seal, Perpendicular attitude in water of, 217, 234 ---- Length of submersions of, 235, 285 ---- Mistake of observation made by author in regard to, 235, 236, 328 ---- Appearance of, etc., in or out of water, 236, 324, 328, 329, 343-5 ---- More modified in relation to aquatic life than common seal, 236 ---- Called "the bottle-nosed seal" locally, 234, 237 ---- Sideway roll of, in going down, 238 ---- Splendid appearance of, under water, 285, 286 ---- Beauty of skin of, 285, 370; probably due to sexual selection, 286 ---- Falstaffian proportions of, 324, 325 ---- Consummate happiness of, 325 ---- Different appearance of fur of, when wet or dry, 325, 326 ---- Leaving his rock, 325, 326, 329 ---- In Eastcheap, 342 ---- His beloved sleep, 342 ---- Author's observations on, collated with those of the late Dr. Edmondstone, 364-73 Great Skua becomes less savage as the young grow older, 93, 94, 151, 197 ---- Young, the, an absurd figure, 150, 151 ---- Less interesting than the arctic skua, 152; and wants the wild cry of the latter, 152 ---- Is difficult to watch, 152, 161 ---- Escape of a young, _à la_ cuttlefish, 154 ---- Herrings decapitated by, 195; if not by gulls in first instance, 196 ---- Plumage of, in chick, 196 ---- Cry of chick to parents, 197 ---- Crouching habit of chick, 197 Guillemots, Apparent habit of constantly drinking sea-water, 62 ---- Will fight carrying fish in bill, 72 ---- Remain on breeding-ledges after departure of chicks, 95-7, 211, 212; or return there after having flown down with them, 96, 97 ---- Actions of, as of feeding young, after the young have gone, 97-9; possible explanation of this, 99, 103, 290, 291, 295; and of similar hallucinations in man, 101-3 ---- Young, how fed, 104, 140, 162, 163, 173, 209; colouring, etc., of, 104, 105, 141, 174; how do they reach the sea?, 105, 106, 139, 166, 174, 175, 232, 233; not quite immovable, 108, 109, 142, 188, 287-9 ---- Nest-building, instinct in, possible last trace of, 109 ---- Appearance of, on the ledges, 111, 112 ---- Nuptial note of, 113, 114; strange error made by author in regard to, 114, 115; how explained, 115-17 ---- _Jodeling_, etc., of, 113, 114, 162-4, 172, 177, 178, 187, 211, 288-90 ---- "Hărrāh," note of, 187, 188 ---- Flight of, a mystery, 133, 134 ---- Marital relations of, 139, 140 ---- Young, received under the parental wing, 141, 142, 162-6, 172-4, 176, 212 ---- Receptive power of chick, 162, 163, 210 ---- White mark round eye of, 164; represented in plain birds by depression in feathers, 164; both may be due to sexual selection, 164 ---- Funny attitude of young, 164, 165, 212 ---- A distinguished bird amongst, 165 ---- Picture of maternal love presented by, 142 ---- Power of ejecting excrement to a distance, of, 165 ---- Possible relation of plumage to chick, in old bird, 166 ---- Depression under wings of, possibly in relation to chick, 166 ---- Manner of diving of, 168 ---- A chick gone, 176, 177 ---- A family scene amongst, 177, 178, 209 ---- Chicks, the, petted, etc., by birds not their parents, 179, 287, 291, 295, 296; suggested explanation of this, 183, 184, 290, 291, 295 ---- Possible process of social evolution taking place amongst, on analogy of insects, 179-83 ---- Plaintive cry of young, 189, 287; supposed origin of the name, 189 ---- Eye of, 209, 210 ---- Buccal cavity of grown, lemon-coloured, 210; but merely flesh-coloured in chick, 210; suggested explanation of this, 210, 211 ---- Strong constitution of young, 232, 233; reflections aroused by, 232, 233 ---- Chick, dangerous journey of, 287, 288 ---- Bring in one fish at a time, 301 ---- Fish: how held by, 301 Gulls, Perpetual canopy formed by, 2 ---- Noise made by, 2; sounds softly, 2 ---- "Ow" note of, 2; language evolved out of, 2 ---- Discordant laugh of, 2 ---- Author troubled by hostility of, 4 ---- Odd sensation caused by, 4 ---- Seem to make all the world, 4 ---- Special sanctuary of, 4, 5 ---- Take place of men, 5 ---- House of Commons suggested by cries of, 5 ---- Clinging to breeding-place of, 5, 6, 95 ---- One's presence resented by, 4 ---- Young have habit of crouching, 6; but adults do not crouch, 6 ---- Young, habit of associating together of, 7; consequent migration of, from island, 7; suggested cause of above, 8 ---- In a mirage, 36 ---- Drink fresh water, 62; and may also drink salt, 62 ---- Herrings possibly decapitated by, 196 ---- Not interested in the fate of seals, 373, 375 Gun, A, Dries up all poetry in a man's heart, 193 Gunpowder, Invention of, deplored by the author, 193

H

Heine, His views on sympathy in relation to civilization, 293, 294 Herring Gull may profit by piracies of the arctic skua, 302, 303 ---- Young kittiwakes killed by, 303, 304, 314-16, 349-51; inferior, as a spectacle, to that of snakes killing their prey, 351-4 ---- Young puffin dropped by, on the rocks, 308, 309 ---- Shakespearean disquisition, a, suggested by, 308-12 ---- A fruit-eater, 365-8 ---- Beautiful dye, a, produced by, 365, 366 ---- Pellets disgorged by, interesting objects, 366, 367; and would make an instructive collection, 366, 367 ---- Not interested in the fate of seals, 373, 375 Humanitarian, the, Flies in the face of the deity, 250; a difficulty shirked by, 250 Hunter, Mrs., Her pleasant establishment at Balta Sound, 86 Hunting Instinct, the, Natural but unjustifiable in civilized man, 333-5; will cease when the animals have, 335

I

Iceland, The kind of paradise it may become, 146 Innocence, a trumpery thing, 207 Intersexual Selection, Arguments for a process of, 261-80 Island, the Author's, Lonely yet populous, 1, 2, 3 ---- Remarkable caves in, 47-50

K

Kittiwakes, Young, assembling together of, 7, 8, 201 ---- Appearance of, on the ledges, 112 ---- Cry of, 112 ---- Appearance, etc., of young, 122 ---- Young, how fed, 122, 123 ---- Bright colouring of mouth cavity in, 123; is less bright in the young, 123; suggested meaning of this, 124-31 ---- Mistake made by author in regard to, 175 ---- Bathing of, resembles an antic, 199 ---- Dove-like appearance of young, 122, 201

L

Lesser Spotted Woodpecker carries many insects at a time to young, 302 Life, Civilized, dark clouds that hang over, 254-5 Lumbago, Disquisition provoked by, 205-8

M

Man, Comparative happiness of savage and civilized, 252-6; impartial judgment as to, not obtainable, 255, 256 ---- Plays part of devil in nature, 347, 348 ---- Civilized, the most miserable being that exists or has ever existed, and the great purveyor of misery to other beings, 347, 348 Might judiciously exercised the highest ideal in accordance with the scheme of nature, 348, 349 Muscovy Ducks, Habit of drinking dew of, 62, 63 ---- In the Pittville Gardens, strange appearance of, 63, 64 Museums, Competitive roar for slaughter of, 148

N

Natural History, Full of unverified statements, 308 ---- Museum at Kensington, The, Its family slaughter groups, 145-7; the kind of people who enjoy them, 145-7 Naturalist, The real, not a man for this world, 194 ---- Should be a Boswell, 323 Nature, The godlessness of, 137 ---- Ruthlessness of, the effect of witnessing, 317-21

O

Optimist, the, His faculty of finding comfort in uncomfortable things, 175 Ostrich, A ratite bird, 198; the scientific exigencies of such a position, 198 Oyster Catcher. _See_ Sea-pie

P

_Palace of Truth_, Mr. W. S. Gilbert's, As played and conceived of at Cheltenham, 243 (footnote) Peewits, Habit of crouching in young, 6; which is not shared by adult, 6 ---- Relations of, with black-headed gull, 10 Peregrine Falcon, An exaggerated estimate of, 156 ---- Foiled by a partridge, 156; and by pigeons, 156, 157; and by a rook, 158 Pheasants, Refusal of a cock to rise, 44 ---- Unsportsmanlike conduct of, in Norfolk, 44 Pigeons, in a mirage, 36 ---- How seen to advantage, 157 ---- Coo of, terror of, 158 ---- Success of, against peregrine falcon, 157, 158; and eagles, 158, 159 Poet, the modern Christian, His devices for speaking the truth, 228, 229 Porpoise, A large kind of, 83, 84 Professors, The blood-prayer of, 148 Puffins, Pursued by arctic skua, 133 ---- Rapid flight of, 133 ---- Picked remains of, frequent, 136, 242 ---- Enemies of, 136, 137 ---- Great difference between young and old, 150 ---- Note of, 154, 155 ---- Impassive spectators, 169 ---- Lover-like actions of, 240 ---- Playfulness of, 240 ---- Sympathy shown by, 240, 241 ---- Mischances that may befall, 242 ---- Tendency of, to fight in mêlées, 242 ---- Marvellous beak of, 243; resembling a false nose used in amateur performance of _The Palace of Truth_ at Cheltenham, 243 (footnote) ---- Legs of, how coloured, 243, 244 ---- New sensation given by, 244 ---- Enormous numbers of, 244, 245 ---- Are somewhat silent, 245 ---- Nuptial display of, 246 ---- Male, a large-hearted bird, 246 ---- Buccal cavity of, a bright yellow, 246, 247; is probably a sexual adornment, 247, 248 ---- Eye of, almost as marked a feature as the beak, 299 ---- Young, dropped by herring-gull on to rocks, 308, 309 ---- Many fish brought in at a time by, 300; theory as to how this is done, 300, 301, 349 ---- Is strongly ritualistic, 313 ---- A lecture delivered to, 336-41

R

Railways, Absence of, add a charm to Sterne and Miss Austen, 193, 194 ---- The destroyers of man and nature, 193 Raven, Mobbed by arctic skuas, 191, 205 ---- None, this time, on the island, 191 ---- Battue of, in progress throughout the Shetlands, 191 ---- Very wary, 194 ---- Odd action of, in air, 194 ---- Flight of, not majestic, 205 Razorbill, Apparent habit of constantly drinking sea-water, of, 62 ---- Bright colouring of buccal cavity, of, 127; suggested explanation of, 129-31 ---- Nuptial note and actions of, 127 Red-throated Diver, A ripple in shape of bird, 59 ---- Resembles both a grebe and a guillemot, 59 ---- Neck of, very beautiful, 59, 60 ---- Dives like a grebe, 60, 61 ---- Apparent habit of continually drinking, of, 61 Right does not exist apart from might, 348, 349 Rock Pipit, Arctic skua baffled by a, 10, 160

S

Science, Hypocritical cloak of, 147 ---- Continual slaughter "for the sake of," 147 Scott, Sir Walter, Description of hawk chasing heron in _The Betrothed_, by, 9, 10 Sea Birds, Their apparent habit of constantly drinking sea-water, 62; possible explanation of this, 62 ---- Power of ejecting excrement to a distance, possessed by, 165, 166 Sea-pie, Quavering note of, 1 ---- Doctrine of metempsychosis in relation to, 37 ---- Bill of, how explained, 37 ---- A sleepy bird, 38 ---- Feeding habits of, 218-22 ---- May become a swimmer, 220 ---- Has some notes like the stone-curlew's, 222, 223 ---- Gatherings of, on beach, 222, 223 ---- Love-pipings of, 223, 224 ---- Aerial nuptial antic of, 224 Sexual Selection, Nature and origin of prejudice in regard to, 280-3 Shags, Use feet, alone, in diving, 50 ---- Disturbed in caverns, 50 ---- Unwillingness of young, to re-enter water, 50, 51; suggested explanation of this, 51-4; possible analogy in conduct of lizards of the Galapagos Islands, 52-4 ---- Conduct of a female alarmed for her young, 54 ---- Brilliant colouring of buccal cavity in, 55, 130, 131; but less brilliant in the young bird, 56; above facts explained by sexual selection, 55, 56, 129-31 ---- Apparent habit of continually drinking, of, 61 ---- Flying out of caves in the morning, 82-6 ---- Bellowing of, 84, 85 ---- Nuptial actions of, 129-31 ---- Young fed by parents after leaving nest, 148, 149 ---- Looking like heraldic eagle, 169, 170 ---- Young, how fed, 173 ---- Manner of diving, of, 173 Shark, Luminous appearance of, under water, 205 Sheep, A, and lamb, picturesque morning call from, 138 ---- A little harm done by, 138 Sheepskins in Manchuria _versus_ sealskins in England, 337 Shetlands, Sunrise in the, 81, 82 ---- Summer in the, 167, 168 ---- Night out in the, possibility of, 167 ---- The wind in the, less interesting than in England, 170, 171 ---- Persecution of ravens, etc., by landowners in the, 191-3 ---- Effect of climate in, on paraffin, 232 ---- More lonely than "the great lonely veldt," 257 Sin, the way of, may be better than that of virtue, 206, 207 Snakes, Killing of prey in captivity by, defended by author, 354-64 Solitude, Sense of not diminished by animal life, except through human associations, 3; above opinion reversed, 297 ---- True, should imply no fleas, 257 Sport, What it does for observation, 370, 371 Sportsmen, An unobservant race, 142, 143 ---- Their one channel of observation, 143; and way of observing in this, 143 ---- Actuating motive of, to kill, 143 ---- Little of the naturalist in, 144 ---- Hasty inferences made by, 304, 305 ---- Interested opinions of, 304, 307 ---- Their intellectual competitions with geese, etc., 305 ---- Compliments paid to themselves by, 307 ---- Statements of, accepted as though from heaven, 307 Stone Curlew, Habit of crouching of, 6 ---- Possible origin of some antics of, 71 Sunrise, In the Shetlands, 81, 82 Swifts, Flight of, compared with that of bats, 134 Sympathy, The nature and origin of, 184, 185, 291, 292 ---- In relation to civilization, 292-5; Heine's views as to, 293, 294

T

Terns, Breeding-ground of, on the island, 1, 9 ---- Canopy formed by, 1 ---- Sharp cry of, 1 ---- A "shrieking sisterhood," 2 ---- One's presence resented by, 4 ---- Crouching habit of young, 6 ---- Special relations of, with arctic skua, 9-13; suggested origin of these, 11 ---- Not often actually attacked by arctic skua, 11; some more persevering against than others, 11, 43; suggested explanation of this, 11, 43 ---- Possible ruse of, against arctic skua, 11, 12 ---- Preferred as quarry by arctic skua, 13 ---- Excitement in colony of, on young being interfered with, 31-34 ---- Anger of, compared with that of insects, 31, 32 ---- Yahoo-like habit of, 32, 33 ---- Fiercer in the Shetlands than in southern England, 34 ---- In a mirage, 35, 36 ---- Mobbing hares, 32, 33 ---- Slight difference between common, and arctic, 34, 35 ---- Assaults made on author in defence of young, 39, 41, 42; beak only used in such assaults, by, 39, 41, 42; differ, in this respect, from skuas and gulls, 39-41 ---- Young encouraged to fly by, colony of, 42; and may need such encouragement, 42, 43 ---- Lethargy of young, 42, 43 ---- The common made roseate terns, 85 ---- Communal interest of, in young, 179 ---- Possible process of social evolution in, on analogy of insects, 179-83 Theory, A soil in which facts grow, 79, 80 ---- Voltaire's simile in regard to, 90

U

United Kingdom, the, Strange summer contained in, 167 ---- Not mistaken by author, for paradise, 167

W

Water Wagtail, Carries many insects to young, at a time, 302 Whales, Small, off the Shetlands, 84 ---- Seen by author, leaping out of the sea, 84, 85 Wind, the, Difference of, in England and the Shetlands, 170, 171, 190 Wren, a, By the wild seashore, 238-40

Z

Zoologist of the future, the, 323

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Transcriber Notes

Illustrations moved so as to avoid splitting paragraphs. The missing end of quote on page 363 was assumed to belong after the question mark. Although the text uses Edmondston once and Edmondstone 11 times, research shows that the last name for all should be the former. The original usage was left unchanged.

End of Project Gutenberg's The Bird Watcher in the Shetlands, by Edmund Selous