250 Storks & Cranes 



high above us in wonderful riband-like lines, which 

 waved and undulated like some giant pennon of black 

 and amber. 



Or else it might have been a monstrous serpent of 

 the air, so closely and evenly did each individual bird 

 keep its place behind the one immediately in front of it. 



Yet the whole company waved continually as it 

 moved ; at one moment the black pinions darkening 

 the line ; at another their white breasts, amber- 

 coloured in the light of the setting sun, flashing out. 



And so they wended their way towards the radi- 

 ance of the western sky, as if unwilling to allow the 

 shades of night to overtake them. 



Such a radiancy of glory, 

 Shining in the west, 

 Telling us the welcome story 

 Of the final rest ; 

 And the rising on the morrow 

 Of the sun's glad light, 

 Promises that pain and sorrow 

 Pass away with night. 



