Flying Against a Gale. 299 
is somewhat sideways. He is making leeway. So 
it is that a rook which looks as if coming straight 
towards you—as if he must inevitably go overhead— 
passes some distance to one side. He appears slow 
on the wing, as if to go fast required more energy than 
he possessed, yet he travels over great distances with- 
out the least apparent exertion. 
When going with the wind he sails high in the 
air, only flapping his wings sufficiently to maintain 
balance and steering power. But when working 
against the wind, if it is a strong gale, hist wings are 
used rapidly, and he comes down near the surface of 
the ground. He then flies just above the grass, only 
high enough to escape touching it, and follows the 
contour of the field. At the hedges he has to rise, 
and immediately meets the full force of the breeze. 
It isso powerful sometimes that he"cannot overcome 
it, and his efforts simply lift him in the air, like a 
kite drawn against the wind. For a few moments 
he appears stationary, his own impetus and the con- 
tending wind balancing each other, and holding him 
suspended. Then he rises again, but still finding the 
current too strong, tacks like a ship to port or star- 
board, and so works aslant into the gale. Shortly 
afterwards he comes down again, if the field be a 
large one, and glides forward in the same manner as 
before, close to the surface. In crossing the lake too, 
against the wind, he flies within a few feet of the water. 
During such a gale a rook may often be seen 
