78 In Touch with Nature. 



head and shoulders of the bird going quite be- 

 neath the surface, but the tail appeared then and 

 at other times to be dry, and invariably was 

 spread slightly when the bird took an upward 

 flight. I had others to watch the bird that my 

 own conclusions might be disputed or verified, but 

 all agreed that bathing for a short time actually 

 wet the feathers, curtailed flight power, and from 

 two to five minutes at least jeopardized the bird's 

 life to a certain extent. 



When it is raining, a bird can readily fly any 

 distance and yet keep dry, if it faces the wind, but 

 not otherwise. The pelting rain-drops, striking 

 the bird's feathers the " right way," will roll off 

 as the water rushes over the shingles of a roof. 

 But let us consider a fitful east wind, a driving 

 rain, and birds in a wood. Here there is no pos- 

 sibility of always facing the wind, and the be- 

 wildered birds are subjected to not only the rude 

 buffeting of contrary winds, but the ruffling of 

 their feathers coincident with a dash of rain. This 

 it is that disables the weak-winged warblers : their 

 feathers are wet, and they can scarcely fly. 



It seems never to have occurred to those people 



