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 pur- 
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 
