:::::":SE OASIS AND DESERT jp:::::::: 



and from this point there extended upward into the air 

 a vast inverted cone of birds, all circling in the same 

 direction. From where Ave sat upon our horses there 

 seemed not a single one out of place, the outline of the 

 cone Avas as smooth and distinct as though the birds 

 were limited in their flight to this particular area. It 

 Avas a rare sight, the sun lighting up every bird on the 

 farther side and shadoAving black as night those nearest 

 us. Through one's partly closed eyes the Avhole mass 

 appeared composed of a myriad of sloAvdy revolving* 

 wheels, intersecting, crossing each other's orbits, but 

 never breaking their circular outline. The thousands 

 of soaring forms held us spellbound for minutes be- 

 fore Ave rode closer. 



Now a change took place, as gradual but as sure as 

 the shifting clouds of a sunset. Until this moment there 

 was a tendency to concentrate at the base of the cone, 

 that portion becoming more and more black until it 

 seemed a solid mass of rapidly revolving forms. But at 

 our nearer approach this concentration ceased, and there 

 Avas perfect equilibrium for a time ; then, as Ave rode 

 up a gentle slope into clearer view, a Avonderf ul ascent 

 began. SloAvly the oblique spirals swing upAvard. The 

 gigantic cone, still perfect in shape, lifts clear of the 

 ground and drifts aAvay, the summit rises in a curve 

 which, little by little, frays out into ragged lines, all 

 drifting in the same direction, and before our eyes the 

 thousands of birds merge into a shapeless, undulating 



<^ 89 ^ 



