The white belly followed, tapering, and then, trailing behind, the fan
of its tail and long parallel legs
of crimson lacquer, the toes
of each
of them closed and streamlined, but the whole shape flattening, when the band
of sunlight was crossed, into a two - dimensional shadow once more, enormously displayed across the rectangle
of cloth, as distinct and nearly as immobile, so languid was its flight, as an emblematic
bird on a sail; then sliding across it and along the nearly still corridor
of air between the invisible eaves and the
chimneys, dipping along the curl
of the lane like a sigh
of wonder, and, at last, a furlong away slowly pivoting, at a gradual tilt,
out of sight.