96 THE FLIGHT OF BIRDS 
that we find the breadth of the wing much reduced ; 
they taper towards thé extremity where the rapidity 
reaches its maximum and the forward movement is 
greatest. 
Styles of Flight. 
There are two contrasted styles of flight that even 
the casual observer easily distinguishes. There is 
that of the small bird that lifts himself with two or 
three rapid strokes, then takes a rest and glides 
onwards, his wings as arule not quite at their 
full span—glides so far that though his pace is con- 
siderable he loses not a little altitude. But a few 
strong strokes soon make this good, and he enjoys 
another slightly-downward glide. The Swift and 
the Swallow are first-rate exponents of this style, 
but it is common to most small birds. The Water- 
Ouzel is a striking exception; his wings move so 
fast that you see only a blur, and he allows himself 
no easy intervals of gliding. Probably this is 
because, for his size and weight, his wings are 
decidedly small, so that he has to ply them unceas- 
ingly. When a larger bird flies in the dipping style 
—a few strokes and a glide, a few strokes and another 
glide—it is particularly striking. Everyone knows 
the dipping flight of the Woodpecker. When he 
glides, he flexes his wings more than most of the 
birds that intersperse little glides amid their flight, 
and so he dips more than others. Sometimes a bird 
whose wings are large for his size and who gains 
much altitude with a stroke or two, then half folds 
his wings, has a very butterfly-like appearance. The 
Wallcreeper, when he plays about a vertical face of 
rock in the Alps, spreading and then half flexing his 
