66 THE FLIGHT OF BIRDS 



air-cushions, though he is the Gannet's near relative, 

 is also clumsy in alighting, and Mr. H. F. Witherby 

 has described to me how Cormorants, wishing to 

 alight upon a post, will sometimes make a bad shot, 

 pass it, and have to turn and try again. A Gull will 

 alight gracefully enough on the water, but when he 

 is aiming at a particular spot on a rock, for example, 

 he will often paddle as awkwardly as a Gannet. The 

 Lapwing is in a very different category ; he is noted 

 for his power of suddenly stopping, of making every 

 possible turn. When you get near his nest he has a 

 way of flying at you in threatening style, then 

 suddenly checking himself and making off. He is a 

 perfect master of bluff. A pair of Lapwings, by such 

 menacing swoops and turns, will drive off a Crow 

 whom they suspect of looking for their nest. In 

 order to stop suddenly, what is wanted is a great 

 expanse of feather, and I cannot help associating 

 the Lapwing's remarkable wings — they are so 

 strikingly broad at the extremity — with his well- 

 known shock tactics. 



I have already remarked on the skill which small 

 birds show in alighting on their perch. Were a 

 Linnet not very clever at making all the required 

 adjustments, she would seldom reach her nest, some- 

 where deep in a gorse bush, without accident. 



