148 THE FlilGHT OP BIUDS. 



easy a manner as the Swallow; he glides over the stream and the meadow 

 with a continuous and placid movement from sunrise till evening, and 

 seems never wearied; his life is aerial, and he is framed accordingly; his 

 body is very light, and his wings exquisitely shaped for the least possible 

 resistance to the medium through which he glides, at the same time that 

 they sustain him in it without any comparative effort. The Swift, indeed, 

 possesses the most wonderful powers of flight, I suppose, of any known 

 bird, but these are of a higher order, and may almost be called sublime 

 in their magnitude. 



There are a great many of our native birds which merely use their wings 

 as the means of transporting themselves to small distances, and are as often 

 dependent on their perching or running powers; these do not range to any 

 distance from one locality, or if they do, it is by fits and Sittings — a little 

 at a time. Thus, Parti'idges, and indeed all our birds of the gallinaceous 

 kind, trust much more to their legs than their wings; except the Black 

 Grouse, which are noble flyers, and go sometimes for miles when flushed; 

 whilst the Crow kind walk, although they cannot run, and hence are con- 

 tinuous flyers. There are others again who are continuous flyers only in a 

 partial degree, which perform migrations from one part of the country to 

 another; of these, the Snipe, the Pigeon, and the Eing Ouzel are examples. 

 There are others again, that, although they are weak flyers, yet perform 

 the most extensive migrations; how this is performed must to a certain 

 extent be involved in mystery, these travellers being so small, and probably 

 migrating in a very desultory manner, that it would be no easy matter to 

 observe their transit. One thing appears certain, that a great waste takes 

 place in their numbers somewhere, and considering the feebleness of their 

 powers and the journey they have to take, it is no wonder. 



The tail of birds being the great directing ngent, or rudder, to regulate 

 flight, alters the mode of flying, according to its shape or dimensions; thus 

 the Cuckoo, having a large cuneiform tail, seems to float, to a certain 

 degree, upon the air; Magpies shoot downwards, and seem to fly in an 

 angular manner, if I may use the expression, their tails being long, and 

 more or less pointed; Jays appear to be very loosely formed, and possess 

 comparatively little power of wing, although in other respects strong birds; 

 and hence they fly in a very uncertain manner, and make but little des- 

 patch, but then they are very wary, and their flying consists in dodging 

 about amongst covert. 



The Gallinule and Grebe genus, of which the Common Moor-hen and 

 Dab or Dob-chick are familiar examples, can scarcely be said to be flyers 

 at all, indeed, how the latter migrates from one pond to another, sometimes 

 for miles, has long been a matter of wonderful conjecture to many, but 

 as it is a very small and cunning creature, it might be easily imagined 



