92 WILD BIRDS 



at a right angle straight upward. It is so strong at 

 times that a pebble tossed over the edge of the 

 cliff will return to the thrower ; and in such winds 

 the gulls soar at ease. But they will soar and wind 

 into great heights in strong winds which there is no 

 reason to suppose are deflected upward. On the 

 whole, I am not now much attracted by this con- 

 venient theory of upward currents. I fancy that 

 when a hawk or a rook or a gull wishes to spire 

 and soar, it will do so whether there is a strong 

 upward current or not. But whatever is the case 

 as to the master-soarers and spirers stork, eagle, 

 lammergeier, and condor our own humbler per- 

 formers in England seem to me to need, or at any 

 rate choose, an air breezy, even stormy ; I have 

 noticed this especially with the herring gulls. In 

 mounting they often change the plane of their wing, 

 and " roll " the body now to one side, now to another. 

 Besides this, there are a few minute movements of 

 the wing tips from time to time. They are so 

 slight, it might be thought they could little avail 

 the flier on its way aloft. But I believe they may 

 avail and that each faint-looking stir of the wing 

 may be screwing the flier upward, so exquisitely 

 is the wing tip contrived for working the air. 



I watched the herring gulls for seven or eight 

 evenings up the glen, and save once they flew 

 straight and with precision to their inland feeding- 

 grounds towards Camelford and the country about 

 Brown Willy Moors. There was no soaring and 

 spiring and hanging with indecision and clamour 



