OF SELBORNE. 265 
the one against the other over their backs with a 
loud snap; another variety, called tumblers, turn 
themselves overin theair. Some birds have move- 
ments peculiar to the seasons; thus ring-doves, 
though strong and rapid at other times, yet in the 
spring hang about on the wing in a playful manner ; 
thus the cock snipe, forgetting his former flight, 
fans the air like the windhover; and the green 
finch, in particular, exhibits such languishing and 
faltering gestures as to appear like a wounded and 
dying bird; the kingfisher darts along like an ar. 
row; fern-owls, or goat-suckers, glance in the dusk 
over the tops of trees like a meteor ; starlings, as 
it were, swim along, while .missel-thrushes use a 
wild and desultory flight ; swallows sweep over the 
surface of the ground and water, and distinguish 
themselves by rapid turns and quick evolutions ; 
swifts dash round in circles; and the bank-martin 
moves with frequent vacillations like a butterfly. 
Most of the small birds fly by jerks, rising and fall- 
ing as they advance. Most small birds hop; but 
wagtails, and larks walk, moving their legs alter- 
nately. Skylarks rise and fall perpendicularly as 
they sing; woodlarks hang poised in the air ; and 
titlarks rise and fall in large curves, singing in 
their descent. The whitethroat uses odd jerks and 
gesticulations over the tops of hedges and bushes. 
All the duck kind waddle; divers and auks walk 
as if fettered, and stand erect on their tails; these 
are the compedes of Linneus. Geese and cranes, 
and most wild fowls, move in figured flights, often 
changing their position. The secondary remiges 
of Tringz, wild ducks, and some others, are very 
long, and give their wings, when in motion, a hook- 
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