Page:BirdWatchingSelous.djvu/382

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340
INDEX

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 in-