FEATHERS AND FLIGHT. 1/9 



A boat is so built that it floats even when no work 

 is done with the oars, but if a bird stops flying, it will 

 fall to the ground. The bird's flight is, therefore, 

 more like swimming, in which a person tries not only 

 to keep up, but to get ahead as well. 



Often, however, a bird ceases to take wing strokes, 

 but instead of falling to the earth, he glides on through 

 the air. This is because he keeps both wings and tail 

 spread, and the air, as you well know, will not let a 

 broad surface fall as quickly as a narrow one. If a 

 bird wants to fall quickly, — if a hawk, for instance, 

 sees a mouse below him, or a lark wants to shoot 

 down to his mate, — he shuts his tail and brings his 

 wings close to his body. Suppose the mouse had 

 vanished before the hawk reached the ground, the 

 hawk, by opening tail and wings again, will stop his 

 downward falling and turn it into an upward and 

 onward course. The broad wings and tail help, then, 

 to support the bird in the air, and the tail acts as a 

 brake to check his motion. 



