THE FLIGHT OF BIRDS, 149 



that wet ditches and such modes of communication are open to him without 

 much chance of observation, and he may moreover take his mysterious 

 journeys under the protecting shades of night, or at times when ordinary 

 mortals are unconscious of what is going on in this sublunary world. The 

 Divers partake, in some measure, of the same mode of flying, but these 

 are bold strong birds, and are, some of them, capable of performing the 

 most distant migrations; whilst the Coots and some others of the same 

 conformation, make very little progress, and merely use their wings for a 

 very short distance, a few being quite unable to fly at all, such as the 

 Great Auk and Apteryx. 



Hawks are very various in their modes of flight. Kestrels hover over 

 their prey, and are the only kind that do so, but I am by no means 

 certain that tvhenever they hover it is over a quarry, for they so constantly 

 do so temporarily, and again fly on that I have often suspected that it is 

 sometimes for observation's sake, and to discover some actual object of 

 attack; this, of course, I only put forward as a suspicion. Buzzards sail 

 and skim most of their time, and take their prey and build on the ground; 

 Sparrow-Hawks fly low, and hunt their ground, taking their victims on the 

 wing or ofi" the perch; the Hobby and Merlin have a flirting movement 

 more like a Bank Martin; whilst the marine Falcons and Eagles are very 

 sudden and active in their evolutions. 



The Whinchats, Stonechats, Redstarts, Blackcaps, and that class of birds 

 of the same make, are bad flyers, and only flit small distances at a time, 

 and their habits, indeed, render more extensive powers unnecessary. Wag- 

 tails, from the peculiar tapering shape of their bodies and long tails, rise 

 and fall in curves; so do Woodpeckers, though here the reason is not 

 so obvious, although no doubt it arises from their manner of opening and 

 closing the wings at every stroke, which occasions them to fall a consid- 

 erable distance until another impetus is given. The Finches have several 

 manners, but most of them close the wings occasionally. The Buntings 

 do the same, except the Yellow Bunting, which flirts along and seldom 

 flies high. The Thrush kind fly more continuously, except the Missel 

 Thrush, which flies high and rises and falls in curves to a certain extent. 



All water-birds have pointed wings, more or less; some, such as the 

 Duck tribe, fly in figures, generally in the form of a wedge; but as these 

 have long necks, they form a sort of pilotage, so that they proceed straight 

 forward, and do not turn so readily as those whose necks are shorter. 

 Peewits have large hollow wings, blunt at the ends, and these act so 

 powerfully that the body is thrown upwards at every stroke, causing a 

 perpetual jerking movement; this is observable when a Heron first rises, 

 but of course on a larger scale. Creepers of all kinds fly such short dis- 

 tances, that their mode of flight can scarcely be illustrated; but I think 



