36 THE RETURN OF THE BIRDS. 



or four of these air-kings at the head of the valley far 

 up toward the mountain, 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 themselves passively to the wind ; or, 

 again, sailing 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 surprising than the flight of 

 the pigeon and swallow even, in that the effort put 

 forth is so uniform and delicate as to escape observa- 

 tion, giving to the movement an air of buoyancy and 

 perpetuity, the effluence of power rather than the con- 

 scious application of it. 



The calmness and dignity of this hawk, when at- 

 tacked 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 

 spiral, and mounts and mounts till his pursuers grow 

 ciizzy and return to earth again. It is quite original, 

 this mode of getting rid of an unworthy opponent, 

 rising to heights where the braggart is dazed and be- 

 wildered and loses his reckoning ! I am not sure but 

 it is worthy of imitation. 



But summer wanes, and autumn approaches. The 



