XXVII RIVERSIDE LETTERS 213 



The flight of this bird is, I am quite sure, 

 more remarkable for its absolute straightness 

 than for its swiftness. The evenness and well- 

 sustained rapidity of the beat of its wings, set 

 far back on the awkwardly shaped body, is 

 the chief characteristic of the bird's flight : it 

 never closes its wings to make a swoop, or 

 flies in undulating curves, as swallows and 

 many other birds do. 



As to the occasional hovering of the king- 

 fisher alluded to in Letter XIII. of my former 

 series, a friend, Colonel Luard, writes to me : 

 "In India the gray kingfisher, which is the 

 one most frequently seen, invariably hovers 

 so far as I know, but I should have said with 

 his beak almost vertically downwards. The 

 fluttering of the wings is extremely rapid." 



The position of the wings on the king- 

 fisher is very much like that of the wings on 

 a humming-bird moth, and as this hovers 

 continually in its flight, it seems reasonable 

 to suppose that the 'bird could also hover 

 easily. 



