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346 287, 289, 290, 292, 293, 294; a retarding influence, 222; in man, may be reversion to more primitive method of intercommunion, 223; may be, in some ways, superior to speech

Thrush, Song of, how differing from the nightingale's, 312; mistaken for the nightingale's, 313, 314; effect of if heard at night, 314

Tit, Blue, at straw-stack in winter, 199, 202; acts like tree-creeper, 236, 237, 238, 239. Ascends trunk perpendicularly, 237; suggested explanation of this, 242, 243. Descends trunk head downwards assisted by wings, 237, 238, 245; suggested explanation, 245. His hardiness, 247, 248; eats buds rather than insects in them, 248, 249; attacked by bullfinch, 250; feeds on catkins of alder or insects in them, 251, 253; his tiring-room and banqueting-hall, 253; drive each other from catkins of alder, 253; flying with rooks, 284

Tit, Coal, attacks fir-cones, 231; manner of holding them, 251. Ascends tree-trunks as does blue-tit, 252

Tits, Long-tailed, nest-building, 320, 321; "chit, chit" note, 320, 321; roosting together, 321, 322, 323; returning to roost in same place, 322, 323; their prettiness, 320, 321

Tit, Great, feeding on seeds of exotic fir, 231, 232, 233, 234, 235; manner of loosening the seeds, 232, 235. Probably eats seeds of indigenous firs, 252

Tree, old, winter foliage of, 201

Tree-creeper, becoming a fly-catcher, 48. Flies downwards from tree-trunk, 240; but not invariably, 241; suggested origin of the habit, 241. Spiral ascent not so general as asserted, 241, 242; often ascends perpendicularly, 242; suggested origin of spiral ascent, 242, 243. Said never to descend trunk, 241, 244; but can descend backwards, 244; interesting to watch, 246; skill in using beak, etc., 246; sometimes acts like fly-catcher, 247; his æsthetic beauty, 247; his hardiness, 247

Trogons, shot in Mexico, 206

Turtle-dove, courting of male on ground or in trees, 50; the nuptial flight, 50, 51

must wait a little, 337

Warrener, how affected by beauty, 47

Wheatear, combats and displays of rival males, 66, 67, 68, 69, 70, 71, 72, 73, 74; his hopping out of character, 68; conduct of hen whilst fought for by rival males, 68, 69, 71, 72, 74, 78; chariness of fighting shown by males, 71, 74. Antics of males not resembling a set display, 77, 78; attempt to explain these and other antics of various birds, 74 et seq (to end of chapter). Power of retaining a mental image, 110; conduct of rival males similar to that of nightingales

Wild Duck, intelligent feigning of injury to distract attention from young, 60, 62, 63; suggested origin of the habit, 63, 64

Willow-warbler, preference for birch-trees, 253; pretty behaviour with the catkins of, 253, 254, 255; reason for this possibly æsthetic, 255, 256

Wood-pigeons, courting of female by male on tree, 45; raucous note after pairing, 46; may hereafter lay in rabbit-burrows, 48; courting of female by male on ground, 48, 49; the clapping of wings in flight, 51; beauty of nuptial flight, 51, 52; swishing or beating of wings in flight, 52. Their simultaneous flights, 210; suggested explanation as to, 215, 216

Wren, acting like a tree-creeper,