394 BIRDS OF THE SEA AND THE SHORE. 



erally move in an undulating course, alternately rising and 

 sinking. The species that move in tliis way seldom fiy to 

 great heights, and are incapable of making a long jour- 

 ney without frequent intervals of rest. They perform 

 their migrations by short daily stages. The flight of the 

 little Sandpipers that frequent salt marshes in numerous 

 flocks would be an interesting study. These birds are 

 capable of sustaining an even flight in a perfectly hori- 

 zontal line, only a few inches above the sandy beach. 

 When they alight they seldom make a curve or gyra- 

 tion. They descend in a straight line, though obliquely. 

 Snow-Buntings turn about, just before they reach the 

 ground, and come down spirally. I have seen them per- 

 form the most intricate movements, like those of people 

 in a cotillon, executed with the rapidity of arrows, when 

 suddenly cliecked in their course by the discovery of a 

 field covered with ripened grasses. 



THE KINGFISHER. 



If we leave the open field and wood, and ramble near 

 the coast of some secluded branch of the sea we may be 

 startled by the harsh voice of the Kingfisher, like the 

 sound of the watchman's rattle. This bird is the cele- 

 brated Alcedo or Halcyon of the ancients, who attributed 

 to it supernatural powers. It was supposed to con- 

 struct its nest upon the waves, where it was made to 

 float like a vessel at anchor. But as the turbulence of a 

 storm would be likely to destroy it, Xature has gifted the 

 sitting birds with the power of stilling the motion of the 

 winds and waves during the period of incubation. Tlie 

 serene weather that accompanies the summer solstice was 

 believed to be the enchanted effect of the benign influence 

 of this family of birds. Hence the name of Halcyon days 

 was applied to this period of tranquillity. 



