Song Birds and Water Fowl 



are a few species of land birds that find flight 

 an end in itself; that pre-eminently live upon 

 the wing ; that sail, and circle, or indulge in 

 the most dashing circumvolutions, hour after 

 hour, without alighting, and evidently prompt- 

 ed by no impulse except the thrill of altitude, 

 and the ecstasy of motion. Such birds may 

 nest, and at times perch, in trees ; they may 

 even be found occasionally on the ground ; but 

 this is for some needful, special purpose ; their 

 wings are the truest symbol of their nature, and 

 their home, the broad and unobstructed sky. 

 The few species in this group are not the most 

 familiar nor the most welcome of their kind ; 

 but, in this lofty sense of wild abandonment 

 and super-earthliness, they are the most exalted 

 of all birds, showing an intensity of tempera- 

 ment unequalled, in its way, by any other 

 creature. These constitute what is most 

 essentially an aerial group, comprising the 

 grandest and most fugacious of terrestrial fowl, 

 of which the most glorious is the eagle — that 



' ' — winged and cloud-cleaving minister, 

 Whose happy flight is highest into heaven," 



and whose crowning altitude is his best claim 

 to being called the king of birds. Modelled 



74 



