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 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

, 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

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

, 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,