BIRD TRAITS. 215 



the parade ground. How impressive is the 

 charge of the neatly uniformed cavalry, with 

 colors flying, sabres flashing, and hoofs pound- 

 ing on the cropped turf ! The men lose individ- 

 ual life and move merely as part of the charging 

 column. They are thrilled by the rush of air 

 in their ears, and the glitter and flash of metal 

 and color around them. So it is with the swal- 

 lows and swifts charging through the summer 

 sunshine and carrying dismay and death to the 

 insect ranks before them. On a July evening I 

 have seen four-score barn swallows with Ions: 

 slender forked tails, chestnut waistcoats and blue 

 jackets appear with even ranks and uniform 

 flight, sweep down upon the lake, skim its calm 

 surface, and then, by some mysterious coincidence 

 of will, wheel to right and upwards and soar far 

 into the upper air, where sunlight still lingered 

 upon Chocorua's summit. There is the same 

 thrill, flash of color, presence of united determi- 

 nation and losing of the individual in the charg- 

 ing column, which are the special characteristics 

 of cavalry. Late in August it is common to see 

 great numbers of night hawks, gathering from a 

 hundred pastures for migration, sail across the 

 sky from west to east, with open ranks and even 

 flight. I once saw a flock of nearly fifty red- 

 wing blackbirds, all males, in full breeding j^lum- 

 age, rise at once from a meadow, fly north, wheel, 



