22 
BIRD-LIFE. 
bird by it alone : at times a majestic soaring; at others 
a rushing, swift as an arrow from a bow; a cradling, 
swinging, fluttering motion; an easy gliding; an onward- 
hastening; a journeying quick as thought; now a sort 
of walking flight, quiet and easy; at one moment the 
waves of the iEthersea rush from beneath the bird, 
while at others one hears not a sound, not even the 
slightest rustle; at times the stroke of the wings is 
powerful, at others not the slightest movement is per¬ 
ceptible ; oftentimes this wondrous gift raises the bird to 
an elevation undreamt of by human beings,—at one 
moment it nears the plain, at another the ocean, the waves 
of which lave the wing with their foam as they pass. 
The inward spirit may be roused by quite a different 
set of circumstances, so as to kindle the full power 
necessary to produce its outward movements, to awaken 
love’s passion, which remains the same in every clime, 
and to vivify a new existence, without which this inward 
spirit would become lost or dissipated. 
There does not exist an animal possessed of such varied 
powers of motion as the bird. How are these movements 
brought about ? We move of our own free will, and yet 
are completely unconscious how this takes place, for our 
movements are such every-day occurrences that we rarely 
take the trouble to reflect upon the ways and means. 
Few people imagine, even, that every step we take, brings 
into action a number of muscles of the leg and foot; 
many never reflect that with each step different laws and 
forces are brought into play. For this reason it is pos¬ 
sibly not unadvisable that we should, in some degree, 
examine each of the principal movements of the bird 
somewhat in detail. Those of man can be studied in 
works published on that subject. 
