106 FROM NORTH POLE TO EQUATOR. 



falcon. Wherever there is a perching-place for these charming 

 creatures, where a telegraph-line traverses the country, or where 

 a rocky hillock rises from the plain, there they are sure to be seen. 

 As good-natured as they are gregarious, unenvious of each other's 

 gain, though they pursue the same booty, these falcons wage inde- 

 fatigable war against insects of all sorts, from the voracious grass- 

 hopper to the small beetle. There they sit, resting and digesting, 

 yet keeping a sharp look-out meanwhile; as soon as they spy booty 

 they rise, and after an easy and dexterous flight begin to glide, 

 then, stopping, they hover, with scarce perceptible vibrations, right 

 over one spot, until, from the height, they are able to fasten their 

 eyes surely on their prey. This done, they precipitate themselves 

 like a falling stone, seize, if they are fortunate, the luckless insect, 

 tear it and devour it as they fly, and, again swinging themselves 

 aloft, proceed as before. Not unfrequently ten or twelve of both 

 species may be seen hunting over the same spot, and their animated 

 behaviour cannot fail to attract and fascinate the observer's gaze. 

 Every day and all day one comes across them, for hours at a time 

 one may watch them, and always there is a fresh charm in studying 

 their play; they are as characteristic parts of the steppe picture as 

 the salt lake, the tulip or the lily, as the dwarf shrub, the,tschi- 

 grass, or the white wool-packs in the heavens. Characteristic also 

 is the rose-starling, beautifully coloured representative of the familiar 

 frequenter of our houses and gardens. He is the eager and success- 

 ful enemy of the greedy grasshopper, the truest friend of the grazing 

 herds, the untiring guardian of the crops and thus man's sworn ally, 

 an almost sacred bird in, the eyes of those who inhabit the steppes. 

 Notable also is the sand -grouse, a connecting link between fowl and 

 pigeon, ^^ which, with other members of its family, is especially at 

 home in the desert. Not less noteworthy are the great bustard, its 

 handsomer relative the rufled bustard, and the little bustard. The 

 last-named is of special interest to us, because a few years ago it 

 wandered into Germany as far as Thuringia, where it now, as in 

 the steppe, adds a unique charm to the landscape as it discloses its 

 full beauty in whizzing flight. Other beautifully coloured, and 

 indeed really splendid birds inhabit the steppes — the lovely bee- 



