PARTRIDGES ALIGHTING ON GROUND 85 

 by telepathy : for the time being their mind- 

 units have merged in one mind. The covey, 

 therefore, rises simultaneously, flies in a body 

 and settles as one bird. (It is needless to go 

 into exceptions, for which there are always 

 incidental causes.) Each succeeding act is 

 performed as it might be by a single bird. 

 Naturally this is a mental attitude the inde- 

 pendent self-conscious reasoning mind has 

 difficulty in grasping, but it must be grasped 

 before we can see nature as she really is. Thus 

 we observe the partridges in the distance 

 simultaneously " throw up," almost vertically, 

 flutter with their wings and drop lightly on 

 the ground. Whilst fluttering in this upright 

 position the wings act as a powerful brake 

 against the air. An observer following the line 

 of flight in open country, after losing sight 

 of the birds, will again " spot " them as they 

 pitch ; because, for the space of a moment, 

 all the birds present a full view of the upper 

 surface of their persons— back, wings and tail. 



