180 



THE DESERT 



never any water, that spare rack of muscles 

 sails the air with as little effort as floating 

 thistle-down. No one knows just how it is 

 done. In blow or calm, against the wind or 

 with it, high in the blue or low over the 

 ground, any place, anywhere, and under any 

 circumstances those wings cut through the air 

 almost like sunlight. You can hear a whizz 

 like the flight of arrows as the bird passes 

 close over your head ; but you cannot see the 

 slightest motion in the feathers. 



The hot, thin air of the desert would seem a 

 less favorable air for sailing than the moister 

 atmosphere of the south ; but the vulture of 

 the tropics is not the equal of the desert bird. 

 He is heavier, lazier, and more stupid possi- 

 bly because better fed. There are several vari- 

 eties in the family, the chief variants being the 

 one with white tipped wings and the one with 

 a white eagle-like head. Neither of them is as 

 good on the wing as the black species, though 

 none of them is to be despised. Even the or- 

 dinary carrion crow of the desert is an expert 

 sailer compared with any of the crow family to 

 be found elsewhere. The exigencies of the sit- 

 uation seem to require wings developed for long- 

 distance flights ; and the vultures, the crows, 



