194 American Birds 



The back end of the wing, or the ends of the feathers, arc 

 soft and flexible. The air, catching under the inverted cup 

 of the wing, escapes readily from the back end. This 

 tends to lift the ends of the feathers, or push them forward 

 out of the way, and the movement, repeated with rapidity, 

 causes flight. 



This seems the best explanation of the flight of birds. 

 Yet each family has a distinctive flight of its own. A good 

 ornithologist can tell a bird by its flight, just as a person 

 may tell his neighbor by his gait. The crow always flaps 

 along in a slow lumbering way. The flicker opens and 

 closes his wings in long sweeps, similar to the wavy flight 

 of the goldfinch, which often twitters when flying. The 

 swallows skim along with exceeding grace and ease, while 

 the swifts fly like bats, short and jerky in movement. A 

 quail or pheasant flushes with rapid beating of wings, 

 making a loud whir. The hawks, eagles, and buzzards 

 generally soar high in the air, gliding around in wide 

 circles. I have never seen phoebe fly high or far at a 

 time. His business is to stay about near his home, and 

 he is continually watching and snapping up flies. 



One evening, a few days after I found phoebe's nest 

 in the deserted cabin, I was sitting at the window when I 

 heard the father calling excitedly in the back yard. I went 

 out and there he had two of the young phoebes, one on 

 the clothes-line and one on the woodshed. He was trying 

 his best to tell them just what to do and how to do it. 

 Soon he flew up to the wire under the eaves and then 

 back again, telling his children that this was the best place 

 to sleep for it was where he always spent the night. The 

 father had persevered to the end and won his place under 



