270 BEACH GRASS 



piper and the upland plover, the horned lark 

 and the pipit, but many other birds in this cate- 

 gory, some of which like the song sparrow, sing 

 chiefly from a perch. The horned lark mounts 

 silently to a great height and pours forth his 

 song in long periods, sometimes out of sight in 

 the low-lying clouds. The pipit sings as he as- 

 cends nearly vertically and, arrived at the summit 

 of his ambitions, descends quickly, still singing, 

 to the earth. 



All birds who indulge in flight song are apt to 

 quiver their wings rapidly in their ecstasy. 

 Sometimes this motion of wings becomes of pri- 

 mary importance and the bird flies with quiver- 

 ing wings but voiceless, or even vibrates his 

 wings rapidly from a perch. This sometimes 

 happens in birds that ordinarily sing at the same 

 time. I have seen it, for example, in the song 

 sparrow. The pheasant quivers his wings rapidly 

 but nearly noiselessly, then emits his vocal crow 

 to be followed by a loud clapping of the wings. 

 The ptarmigan vibrates his wings rapidly in 

 flight and calls at the same time; the spruce 

 partridge flies from a tree stub to the ground with 



