The reign of law . om-mon in other birds, is carefully avoided. have been classified as noble or ig-noble, according to the length and sharpness oftheir wings: those which catch their prey by velo-city of flight having been uniformly provided withthe long-pointed structure. The Sparriow-Havdcand the Merlin are excellent examples of the dif-ference. The Sparrow-Hawk, with its compara-tively short and blunt wings, steals along the hedge-rows and pounces on its prey by surprise; seldomchasing it, except for a short distance, and whenthe victim is at a disadvantage. And well do thesmalle
The reign of law . om-mon in other birds, is carefully avoided. have been classified as noble or ig-noble, according to the length and sharpness oftheir wings: those which catch their prey by velo-city of flight having been uniformly provided withthe long-pointed structure. The Sparriow-Havdcand the Merlin are excellent examples of the dif-ference. The Sparrow-Hawk, with its compara-tively short and blunt wings, steals along the hedge-rows and pounces on its prey by surprise; seldomchasing it, except for a short distance, and whenthe victim is at a disadvantage. And well do thesmaller birds know this habit, and the limit of hispowers. Many of them chase and chaff theSparrow-Hawk, when he is seen flying in the open,perfectly aware that he cannot catch them by fastflying. But they never play these tricks with theMerlin. This beautiful little Falcon hunts theopen ground, giving fair chase to its quarry bypower and speed of flight. The Merlin delightsin flying at some of the fastest birds, such as. A. KICSTREL HOVJlRTNG. i!. MERLIN —J^ HARP WTNl;. C. SPAKKOW-HAWK: —KOLMj \VI m;. CONTRIVANCE A NECESSITY. 167 the Snipe. The longest and -most beautifultrial of wingmanship I have ever seen was thechase of a Merlin after a Snipe in one of theHebrides. It lasted as far as the eye couldreach, and seemed to continue far out to the Merlin, as in all the fastest Falcons, thesecond quill feather is the longest in the wing;the others rapidly diminish; and the point of thewing looks as sharp as a needle in the air. There is yet one other power which it is abso-lutely necessary to some birds that their wingsshould enable them to exert; and that is thepower of standing still, or remaining suspended inthe air without any forward motion. One familiarexample of this is the common Kestrel, which,from the frequent exercise of this power, is calledin some counties the Windhover. The mechani-cal principles on which the machinery of flight isadapted to this purpose, are v
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