232 THE HAUNTS OF LIFE 



streams. These dragon-flies, whose mastery of 

 the air is almost perfect, had also a long aquatic 

 youth. Perhaps the swift comes nearest a 

 thoroughly aerial creature, for it is on the wing 

 from dawn to dusk, hawking insects without 

 stopping, except to deliver its captures at the 

 nest, never coming to earth at all there is a 

 note of victory in its shrill cry ! 



WHAT GETTING INTO THE AIR MEANT 



The surface of the earth is a hazardous 

 haunt, but getting into the air spells safety. 

 We see this clearly enough in the chagrin of 

 the cat when the sparrow rises into the air at 

 the last moment, after all the stealthy stalking. 

 It must be very disconcerting to be baulked so 

 neatly. Getting into the air means a return 

 to that universal freedom of movement which 

 animals had in the open water. 



It means also getting off the ground often 

 arid and inhospitable, a power of rapid pursuit 

 of moving food, the possibility of quickly pass- 

 ing from scarcity to plenty, or from drought to 

 flowing water. It has led to an annihilation of 

 distance and to a circumventing of the seasons. 

 Last, not least, getting into the air means new 



