232 THE HAUNTS OF LIFE 



streams. These dragon-flies, whose mastery 

 of the air is almost perfect, had also a long 

 aquatic youth. Perhaps the swift comes 

 nearest a thoroughly aerial creature, for it is 

 on the wing from dawn to dusk, hawking in- 

 sects without stopping, except to deliver its 

 captures at the nest, never coming to earth at 

 all there is a note of victory in its shrill cry! 



WHAT GETTING INTO THE AIR MEANT 



The surface of the earth is a hazardous 

 haunt, but getting into the air spells safety. 

 We see this clearly enough in the chagrin of 

 the cat when the sparrow rises into the air at 

 the last moment, after all the stealthy stalk- 

 ing. It must be very disconcerting to be 

 baulked so neatly. Getting into the air means 

 a return to that universal freedom of move- 

 ment which animals had in the open water. 



It means also getting off the ground often 

 arid and inhospitable, a power of rapid gur- 

 'Suit of moving food, the possibility of quickly 

 passing from scarcity to plenty, or from 

 drought to flowing water. It has led to an 

 annihilation of distance and to a circumvent- 

 ing of the seasons. Last, not least, getting into 



