ANIMALS AT PLA Y 91 



our sparrowhawks and kestrels, and even rooks, will 

 soar for long periods without a flap of the wing for 

 pleasure alone ; and the herons will do the same, 

 circling to vast altitudes. The writer once had the 

 pleasure of seeing the first flight of two young 

 kestrels, which had been kept in confinement in 

 a large room until their feathers were perfectly 

 grown. For days they had hovered before the 

 window of the house anxious to try the almost 

 unknown power. When released, they at once 

 soared, sweeping ever upwards in opposing circles, 

 until it seemed as if the sky itself could set no limits 

 to their airy climb. 



In any comparison of the games and sports of 

 animals with our own enjoyment of the same amuse- 

 ments, it must not be forgotten that imagination, the 

 ' make-believe ' which enter so much into the play 

 of children, is also the basis of much of the play 

 of young animals. Watch a kitten, while you tap 

 your fingers on the other side of a curtain or table- 

 cloth, imitating the movements of a mouse running 

 up and down. She knows it is not a mouse, but 

 she enters into the spirit of the game, and goes 

 through all the movements proper to the chase. 

 Or perhaps she has a ball. If you set it in motion 

 so much the better. That helps the * make-believe.' 

 The ball is ' alive ' and she catches it, claws it, and 



