UNDER THE MAPLES 



and those which feed as they fly. Most of our 

 common birds are examples of the first class. 

 Our hawks and buzzards are examples of the 

 second class. Swallows, nighthawks, and some sea- 

 birds are examples of the third class. A few of our 

 birds use their wings to gain an elevation from which 

 to deliver their songs as the larks, and some of the 

 finches; but the robins and the sparrows and the 

 warblers and the woodpeckers are always going 

 somewhere. The hawks and the buzzards are, 

 comparatively speaking, birds of leisure. 



Every bird and beast is a master in the use of 

 its own tools and weapons. We who look on from 

 the outside marvel at their skill. Here is the 

 carpenter bumble-bee hovering and darting about 

 the verge-board of my porch-roof as I write this. 

 It darts swiftly this way and that, and now and 

 then pauses in midair, surrounded by a blur of 

 whirring wings, as often does the hummingbird. 

 How it does it, I do not know. I cannot count or 

 distinguish the separate stroke of its wings. At 

 the same time, the chimney swifts sweep by me 

 like black arrows, on wings apparently as stiff as 

 if made of tin or sheet-iron, now beating the air, 

 now sailing. In some way they suggest winged 

 gimlets. How thin and scimitar-like their wings 

 are ! They are certainly masters of their own craft. 



In general, birds in flight bring the wings as far 

 below the body as they do above it. Note the 



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