58 
BIRD-FLYING. 
nation to fly, they prefer to wait for the riling of a good 
ftiff breeze ; the weight of the creatures being uncomfort¬ 
ably great in comparifon to their motive-power. When 
the breeze is at its beft, the geefe fet up a tremendous 
quacking, flretch out their great wings to the utmoft, 
elevate their heads, and bring their wing-planes well up 
towards the perpendicular; they then rufh againft the 
wind as hard as they can, at the fame inftant beating the 
air violently with their wings. The effedt is quite 
magical: 
The whole flock in a fecond are off their legs, afloat, 
and away on the air. 
But, as a rule, birds are fufficiently light, and have 
fpring enough in their legs, to leap into the air and find 
immediate flotation. A crow, as it hops along the 
ground, feems to almofl: float as it hops; and the delicate 
and gentle manner in which it lowers itfelf upon a {lender 
bough at the top of a tall tree when fettling itfelf for the 
night is delicious to behold. The amount of motive- 
power ftored up in the tiflues of the creature’s great wings 
muff be immenfe. 
One is ftrongly imprefled with the infinitude of 
Nature’s refources when confidering the great variety of 
method and movement with which the creatures of the 
air are gifted. One fet of creatures, with weight as an 
element of their organization, are conftrudted with wings 
of variable lengths and proportionate breadths with re- 
