242 THE STRUCTURE AND LIFE OF BIRDS chap. 



against the wind in something the same way, half 

 flexing the wings for a rapid descent down a gentle 

 incline, then spreading them for a steep ascent. Their 

 course is a perfectly straight one head to the breeze, 

 only rising and falling. 1 



During the terrific blizzard that fell upon our east 

 coast in January 1894, I saw gulls making their way 

 against the wind by flying as low as possible along the 

 sand by the seaside, appreciating the fact that even a 

 blizzard is comparatively mild near to the earth's 

 surface. 



Soaring. 



When Eagles, Falcons, and Buzzards were common 

 in our islands, the phenomenon of soaring was much 

 more familiar than it is now. The popularity of 

 hawking brought it to everybody's notice. Sportsmen 

 or their gamekeepers are now making everything in 

 the shape of a bird of prey, beyond a Kestrel or a 

 Sparrow Hawk, a rare sight. But, happily, an oppor- 

 tunity still occasionally comes to us to see a bird 

 soaring in grand style, a Buzzard among the hills of 

 Westmoreland or over Cornish cliffs, or a Raven over 

 some rocky headland on our coast. But the grandest 

 soarers of all are not natives of Britain. They may 

 be seen in many lands, but nowhere better than over 

 a great plain in Upper Assam. There they have been 

 watched through a telescope by Mr. S. E. Peal, who 

 has well described their circling flight in Nature? 



1 See Marey, Vol des Oiseaux, p. 18. 



2 See Nature for November 4, 1880; September 26, 1889; 

 May 21, 1S91, 



