THE RETURN OF THE BIRDS. 51 



head of the valley far up toward the moun- 

 tain, balancing and oscillating upon the 

 strong current : now quite stationary, except 

 a slight tremulous motion like the poise of a 

 rope-dancer, then rising and falling in long 

 undulations, and seeming to resign them- 

 selves passively to the wind ; or, again, sail- 

 ing high and level far above the mountain's 

 peak, no bluster and haste, but, as stated, 

 occasionally a terrible earnestness and speed. 

 Fire at one as he sails overhead, and, unless 

 wounded badly, he will not change his course 

 or gait. 



His flight is a perfect picture of repose in 

 motion. It strikes the eye as more surpris- 

 ing than the flight of the pigeon and swallow 

 even, in that the effort put forth is so uni- 

 form and delicate as to escape observation, 

 giving to the movement an air of buoyancy 

 and perpetuity, the effluence of power rather 

 than the conscious application of it. 



The calmness and dignity of this hawk 

 when attacked by crows or the king-bird are 

 well worthy of him. He seldom deigns to 

 notice his noisy and furious antagonists, but 

 deliberately wheels about in that aerial spi- 

 ral, and mounts and mounts till his pursuers 

 grow dizzy and return to earth again. It is 



