2 Wild Life in a Southern County 



distance, and then shoots out into the air, comes back half- 

 way, and hangs over the fallow below, where there is a 

 small rick. His wings vibrate, striking the air downwards, 

 and only slightly backwards, the tail depressed counteract- 

 ing the inclination to glide forwards for awhile. In a few 

 moments he slips, as it were, from his balance, but brings 

 himself up again in a few yards, turning a curve so as to 

 still hover above the rick. If he espies a tempting morsel 

 he drops like a stone, and alights on a spot almost exactly 

 below him — a power which few birds seem to possess, 

 ilost of them approach the ground gradually, the plane of 

 their flight sloping slowly to the earth, and the angle 

 decreasing every moment till it becomes parallel, when 

 they have only to drop their legs, shut their wings, and, 

 as it were, stand upright in the air to find themselves safe 

 on the sward. By that time their original impetus has 

 diminished, and they feel no shock from the cessation of 

 motion. The hawk, on the contrary, seems to descend 

 nearly in a perpendicular line. 



The lark does the same, and often from a still greater 

 height, descending so swiftly that by comparison with 

 other birds it looks as if she must be dashed to pieces ; 

 but when within a few yards of the ground, the wings are 

 outstretched, and she glides along some distance before 

 alighting. This latter motion makes it difficult to tell 

 where a lark actually does alight. So, too, with snipe : 

 they appear to drop in a corner of the brook, and you feel 

 positive that a certain bunch of rushes is the precise place • 

 but before you get there the snipe is up again under your 

 feet, ten or fifteen yards closer than you supposed, having 

 shot along hidden by the banks, just above the water out 

 of sight. 



Sometimes, after soaring to an unusual elevation the 



