138 CONCERT IN ACTION. 



consists in crouching among the clods or lurking 

 among the herbage ; and their general colours are 

 such that they are not easily distinguishable from 

 these. Their wings are short, broad, and concave, 

 and they are also looser in the plumage of their under 

 sides than the wings of almost any other birds. All 

 these qualities make them take a great hold on the 

 air, which assists them in " working upwards," though 

 it renders even that direction of flight more laborious. 

 They can thus reach the height of escape from a 

 ground preyer, or that of perching, upon a more per- 

 pendicular Hne, or with less forward motion than 

 birds of more powerful wing. The same form of 

 ■wings enables them to drop down more readily 

 than almost any other birds, except those which, like 

 the sky-larks, drop from a great height, and 'acquire 

 an impetus from the descent. This power of quick 

 descent is as advantageous to them as that of speedily 

 rising, for they drop so quickly into their cover that 

 one can hardly point to the precise spot, and the 

 diflaculty of so doing is increased by the wheeling 

 motions which they have when in the air, and also 

 by their running in a different direction from that in 

 which they were flying, before they squat, or other- 

 wise pause, for the purpose of hiding themselves. 



Thus their apparently clumsy and ungainly wings 

 are as well adapted to their peculiar habits and haunts 

 as the finest and firmest wings that cleave the air. It 

 is also worthy of notice that, as their power is not 

 concentrated in the wings, but diffused over the body, 

 all the parts of which have more or less of motion 

 in their several actions of walking, running, crouching, 

 standing up for observation, and others, the whole 

 body comes more into action, and labours more 

 during their flight, than in the more elegant fliers. 



