BIRDS IX THE BUSH 



IO = 



queer actions, such as swimming half 

 immersed in an upright position, 

 "sun-bathing" in the water, with out- 

 stretched wings; flying over the water 

 with feet dragging or Hopping- in a 

 remarkable way. 



A point to note is whether or not 

 a given habit is peculiar to the species, 

 shared by the family to which the bird 

 belongs, or is common to a still wider 

 circle of birds. A man who knew well 

 most of the commoner birds of his lo- 

 cality i nice told me of seeing a "cur- 

 lew." He said "I knew it by its habit 

 of holding its raised wings high over 

 its hack after alighting." Now, that 

 habit is common to various species of 

 the curlew's family; it is strikingly 

 displayed by the Bartramian sandpi- 

 per. As I knew the latter bird, and not 

 the curlew, was to be found in my 

 friend's locality, it was in all proba- 

 bility this sandpiper which had been 

 seen standing with raised wings as 

 described. Another habit which is 

 general in a family of birds is bathing 

 on the wing, as done by the swallows, 

 for various other birds may be seen 

 infrequently to dip in the water 

 as they fly over it. The swallows' ex- 

 traordinary mastery of the air ah 

 them not only to feed, drink and rest 

 on the wing, but habitually to bathe 

 and fluff out their wet plumage as well 

 with the support of their wings alone. 



Of the birds which catch small prey 

 such as mice, sparrows, beetles and 



BOLINK FLYING WITH LEGS DANGLING. 



THE BARTRAMIAN SANDPIPER HOLDING 



WINGS HIGH OVER BACK AFTER 



ALIGHTING. 



grasshoppers I have seen in only one, 

 the habit of fluttering the wings in a 

 peculiar way, apparently for the pur- 

 pose of intimidating the quarry or 

 starting it from its hiding place. It 

 was a shrike which I saw r do this 

 while it looked intently among the 

 bushes beneath it. This suggests a 

 question : May it not be possible that 

 the spectacle of the hovering kinghsher 

 often confuses, rather than drives 

 away, the fish it seeks below it? 



The habit of flying with legs dang- 

 ling conspicuously is one displayed by 

 a number of birds of widely separated 

 families. With the rails it is much 

 of a family trait but among black- 

 birds and their close allies it seems 



