ftotes of tbe Ittuibt 



proaches, when it is directly overhead, and as it 

 passes away from you. You strain your eyes in 

 the proper direction, as you believe, yet there is 

 nothing to be seen, or not in one case in, per- 

 haps, a hundred. Has the damp night air to do 

 with the traveling of sound ? Is the bird some- 

 where else? Or is it at so great an altitude that 

 even by day it would be inconspicuous ? 



There are two common birds with us that occa- 

 sionally fly at night, and in such a manner as to 

 fairly frighten the unthinking rambler. These are 

 the dove and quail. I have usually noticed them 

 at such times in pairs. The rapidity of their 

 flight is incredible. In one instance, I was stoop- 

 ing over a large moth that I had caught with my 

 hat, and just as I was about to rise, a sound like 

 the hiss of a bullet sent me back to my knees, 

 but not before I saw the doves dart by me. I 

 plainly felt the wind of their wings, and had they 

 struck me, I believe I should have been injured 

 by the blow. Quails, in the same mad way, go 

 rushing by ; and if, at such speed, they can deflect 

 from a straight course and avoid obstacles, it is 

 one of the great wonders of the flight of birds. 

 Occasionally fatal collisions do occur. I have 

 found dead birds with their heads crushed to a 

 shapeless mass, and have known even the active 

 swallow to be injured by a telegraph wire. 



Birds sleep lightly. It needs but the slightest 

 .noise or movement to rouse them, and their 

 2* 21 



