84 



THE OOLOGISl 



do, they stop in the fraction of a sec- 

 ond and alight as airily as a cat in mak- 

 ing a spring. 



The movements of ihe Whip-poor- 

 will on the wing are slow, and it is safe 

 to say that this bird cannot catch the 

 swift flying insects that form the food 

 of the Flycatchers. Its food consists 

 largely of night flying moths, but it is 

 not averse to hard-shelled insects, as 

 the beetles. Though this species oc- 

 casionally sings, and clucks on the wing, 

 its wing movements are perfectly silent, 

 and it rises or drops as quietly as any 

 bird of my acquaintance, and never 

 utters a protest when it is scared from 

 its eggs. It sometimes sails after the 

 manner of its near relative, the Night- 

 hawk, but its usual style is in spas- 

 modic flops, and its movements on 

 leaving the eggs much resemble the 

 actions of the Woodcock. The Night- 

 hawk differs from the Whip-poor-will 

 in flying in the open, and also in fre- 

 quently appearing during the daylight 

 hours, which is certainly not the custom 

 of the Whip-poor-will, so far as I can 

 learn. In movements this high flier 

 somewhat resembles the erratic flight 

 of the Killdeer, occasionally sweeping 

 down as with the Plovers, but ending 

 this plunge with a peculiar sound like 

 the rushing of wind in a hollow. 



Chimney Swifts always fly in circles, 

 so far as I am able to learn, and even 

 in migration move in the customary 

 curves. I have seen Swifts moving 

 with the wind north or south on their 

 journeys; and they still swept about in 

 great curves. Each time they came up 

 facing the wind they would apparently 

 just hold their own for a few seconds; 

 then sweeping around another curve, 

 they would be carried on toward their 

 destination. Though called a Swift, 

 this bird is not a very rapid flier, and 

 many birds can pass it in a race, It is 

 a tireless flier, and though not possess- 

 ing dash and a variety of sudden move- 

 ments, it is persistent in its search for 



food. The Swift is undoubtedly the 

 most thoroughly aerial of all our birds, 

 for excepting the time that it spends in 

 clinging to the sides of its nest or on it, 

 or to the grimy walls of its retreat, it is 

 wholly occupied in flight. It performs 

 its courtship in the air, and feeds its 

 young on the wing after the nestlings 

 have learned to navigate the heavenly 

 blue. 



The Ruby throated Hummer is a. 

 marvel on the wing and outranks all 

 other birds in the world in proportion 

 of swiftness to weight, to an extent of 

 from three to one to five hundred to 

 one. For instance, admitting that the 

 Hummer flies at the rate of sixty miles 

 to the hour, and weighs one third of an 

 ounce; if an Eagle weighing ten pounds 

 were to fly as rapidly in proportion to 

 its weight, it would fly four hundred 

 and eighty times as fast; by which it 

 will be seen that it would take the big 

 bird but a short time to circumnavigate 

 the globe. 



The Flycatchers are professionals in 

 the line of short, sudden dashes. Their 

 activity is marvellous, and no class of 

 birds possesses superior qualifications 

 as masters of the injurious insect pests. 

 The ordinary fl'ght of the Flycatcher is 

 a fluttering series of undulations, but 

 when prey is sighted, a dash follows, 

 which is nearly always successful, if we 

 are to judge by the snap of the bill 

 which is usually heard. 



Among the Oscines, that arbitrary 

 division of so-called song birds, that ex- 

 cludes several good singers, and em- 

 braces many that cannot sing a note, 

 we find many forms of flight, and 

 peculiarities which would not be toler- 

 ated by systematists. if they could regu- 

 late all things in accordance with rules 

 of classification. The Titlark and 

 Horned Lark fly at great heights at 

 times and apparently for the entertain- 

 ment, as they are ground feeders. No 

 other perchers excel these birds as 

 amusement seekers in the heavens, and 



