WILD WINGS: A FARLWELL 301 



in a much easier way tlian the others, with a stronger 

 flight and falling more skilfully, almost like a stone. So 

 great was the difference between this display and that 

 of the generality that these birds were like old prac- 

 tised hands or professionals at the game, and the others 

 mere amateurs or beginners. 



On describing what I had witnessed to an old fisher- 

 man and fowler, he said, "I've watched them playing 

 like that many and many a time, and have thought to 

 myself, they're just like a lot o' children." 



I doubt if any (ine who has observed birds in com- 

 pany closely, especially when they have come together, 

 as in the case of the hooded crows, just for recreation 

 has not occasionally had this same thought — just like a 

 lot of little children! 



It is, as I remarked in the chapter on the marsh 

 \varbler, a delightful experience to a field naturalist to 

 sit at ease, binocular in hand, at a proper distance from 

 a company of birds and watch them at their little games. 

 The right distance varies according to the species and 

 the nature of the ground ; it should always be outside 

 the danger limit, so that if they see the spectator they 

 do not heed him and are practically unconscious of 

 his presence. Whatever that distance may be a nine 

 to twelve prismatic glass will bring them within a dozen 

 yards of his vision. 



This delight was mine almost every day at the spots 

 where the birds were accustomed to congregate on the 

 meadows and by the sea. I could watch them by the 

 hour and was never disappointed, even when there was 



