io8 RIVERSIDE LETTERS xiv 



birds have a sharp jerky little note which 

 sounds like "chipsit." At times they will 

 rise in the air, making a momentary hover, 

 after a fly, very much in the style of a 

 flycatcher ; sparrows will sometimes execute 

 a similar manoeuvre but in a far clumsier 

 fashion. The gray wag-tail is almost as 

 common about here as the pied one ; it 

 has a pretty yellow throat and breast ; they 

 seem particularly fond of the edges of the 

 river. 



When you think what a clumsy thing a 

 bat is in appearance, is it not marvellous 

 how extremely rapid its flight is ? Their 

 wings and general structure are so totally 

 different to those of the swallow, and yet they 

 catch and feed on very much the same prey. 

 Though they have not the swift dart of the 

 swallow they fly very quickly, doubling and 

 turning even more rapidly and suddenly than 

 the birds do. As they have no tail their 

 steering must be effected entirely by their 

 wings, which are divided into sections by 



