44 THE RETURN OF THE BIRDS. 



you see him quietly perched upon some low tree or 

 decayed stub in a swamp or meadow, with reminis- 

 cences of frogs and mice stirring in his maw. 



"When the south wind blows, it is a study to see 

 three or four of these air-kings at the head of the 

 valley far up toward the mountain, balancing and os- 

 cillating upon the strong current : now quite station- 

 ary, except a slight tremulous motion like the poise 

 of a rope-dancer, then rising and falling in long undu- 

 lations, 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 fu- 

 rious antagonists, but deliberately wheels about in 

 that aerial spiral, and mounts and mounts till his 

 pursuers grow dizzy 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 



