THE COAST OF SOUTH WALES 25 



Yet birds of this splendour of motion, seeming as they 

 rise higher and higher to be emblems of lofty thought 

 and proud imagination, are known among men as 

 " vermin." I have no doubt at all that these gyrations 

 were for pure enjoyment (which in nature is almost 

 invariably expressed in what is to us as artistic form), 

 and that they had nothing to do with business. 



When the three of them were floating the ether in 

 company, they used to toy with one another, dashing 

 down and swerving off just before colliding, and then 

 soaring upwards to renew the sport. In this recreation 

 they cut all manner of intricate designs in the air, in 

 a beautiful combination of strength and lightness. They 

 were frequently pursued and bullied by other birds, 

 particularly crows and rooks, and you would see one of 

 them flying oft with a black horde at his heels, like a 

 potentate attended by pages. But I failed to see any 

 animosity or fear in these attacks : it was Elisha and the 

 urchins. But if the buzzard cursed, he did not smite 

 his persecutors. I once saw a meddlesome rook begin 

 harrying and hustling with a fine, showy, St. George- 

 and-the-Dragon air, dashing down like a thrown spear 

 at the back of the buzzard and stopping dead six feet 

 above it, to sail away and play a discreet David once 

 again. Then I received a token of the solidarity of the 

 rook tribe, for three other rooks turned up from nowhere, 

 and the tactics of the original aggressor at once changed. 

 He plunged down upon the poor buzzard with so 

 impetuous a rush, turning at the last moment to flick 

 him with his wing, that he completely upset the buzzard's 

 balance, who turned a complete somersault and dropped 

 about thirty feet. A pair of crows (most uxorious of 

 birds), too, used to drive down upon the buzzards with 

 depressed wings or hang above them with their legs 

 dangling, and feinting and standing, or rather flying, 

 on guard with a vastly impressive parade of martial 

 prowess. The buzzards only glided aside to avoid the 

 swoops, and I never saw these Christian birds make 

 the smallest attempt at retaliation or self-defence. 

 Either the black air-Arabs got tired of the sport or the 

 victim of their horseplay was driven oft the field. I 



