BIRDS OF THE WAVE AND WOODLAND 71 



and, forsaking the highlands, wander lower in search of 

 more varied food : unwise in their generation, for in the higher 

 altitudes they were comparatively safe from many of the 

 perils that beset the grouse. True, when they were up 

 among the clouds they were in the demesnes of the eagle, 

 who thinned their company as they fed upon the shoots of 

 heather and lino- orrowinof in tufts amonof the rocks or in 

 broad patches down some sunny slope — 



Where the grouse lead their coveys 

 Thro' the heather to feed." 



How silently and swiftly the birds of prey come wheeling 

 round the curve of the cliff, and, skimming the ground, pick up 

 and carry off one of a covey before even its companions can 

 collect their wits to raise an alarm. So in India I have seen the 

 laggar falcon take up a quail and pass on like some shadow, 

 without disturbing the rest, as silent, literally, as the wind, 

 and with an incredible speed. Yet to watch an eagle beating 

 round the base of a hill there seems too much leisureliness for 

 speed. But time its flight, and you will find that though the 

 beats of its wings seem at long intervals it is really going 

 by with great velocity. Its home, and its favourite watch- 

 tower, for birds of prey have always some one spot to which, 

 when they wish to be idle, they find their way, is some lofty 

 crag. There seated aloft, they overlook the lowlands where 



