242 THE STRUCTURE AND LIFE OF BIRDS cuap. 
against the wind in something the same way, half 
flexing the wings for a rapid descent down a gentle 
incline, then spreading them for a steep ascent. Their 
course is a perfectly straight one head to the breeze, 
only rising and falling? 
During the terrific blizzard that fell upon our east 
coast in January 1894, I saw gulls making their way 
against the wind by flying as lowas possible along the 
sand by the seaside, appreciating the fact that even a 
blizzard is comparatively mild near to the earth’s 
surface. 
Soaring. 
When Eagles, Falcons, and Buzzards were common 
in our islands, the phenomenon of soaring was much 
more familiar than it is now. The popularity of 
hawking brought it to everybody’s notice. Sportsmen 
or their gamekeepers are now making everything in 
the shape of a bird of prey, beyond a Kestrel or a 
Sparrow Hawk, a rare sight. But, happily, an oppor- 
tunity still occasionally comes to us to see a bird 
soaring in grand style, a Buzzard among the hills of 
Westmoreland or over Cornish cliffs, or a Raven over 
some rocky headland on our coast. But the grandest 
soarers of all are not natives of Britain. They may 
be seen in many lands, but nowhere better than over 
a great plain in Upper Assam. There they have been 
watched through a telescope by Mr. S. E. Peal, who 
has well described their circling flight in Mature? 
1 See Marey, Vol des Ozseaux, p. 18. 
2 See Mature for November 4, 1880; September 26, 1889; 
May 21, 1891. 
