Birds by Land and Sea 



concentrated energy, he mounts in a direct line, 

 pausing now and again to circle out and gain fresh 

 strength for his upward flight ; then, just as he 

 ascended by stages, so he descends, partially folding 

 his wings and inclining his head as he drops from 

 stage to stage, like a spider on suddenly lengthening 

 thread, until, at last, with wings laid closely back, 

 egs hanging loosely, and body abandoned to the 

 full pull of gravitation, he falls like a stone, recover- 

 ing himself when within a yard of the earth by 

 expanding his wings and flitting forward close to the 

 ground for some distance before he alights. 



With "morning at seven" I am abroad by the 

 time that the rooks arrive from their distant sleeping 

 quarters, which they do in small detachments, flying 

 high on a straight line, especially high when there is 

 a mist on the land. They go at once to the rookery, 

 and throw themselves down with tumbling antics 

 through the air, darting this way and that with a 

 violent zigzagging motion. As each new contingent 

 arrives, the whole rookery utters an objurgatory 

 " Caw / " as much as to say, " Late again, Lazy 

 Bones ! " When the sun is coming up, the birds 

 often rise in a mass, and with vigorous cawing 

 describe mazy circles above the tree-tops a delight- 

 ful picture as the cloud of black shifting wings weaves 

 its airy web upon the yellow background of the dawn. 

 After this they betake themselves to the adjoining 

 fields to feed. 



One of the birds has, at the time of writing, a 

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