THE AEROPLANE AND THE BIRD

Evening Post, Volume CXXV, Issue 84, 9 April 1938, Page 27

THE AEROPLANE AND THE BIRD

Watching a display by airmen, we often marvel at their manoeuvres, but I have never yet seen a stunt that has not also been performed by a bird, writes Oliver G. Pike, F.Z.S., in the "Daily Mail." Birds loop-the-loop, turn on their backs while flying at full speed, nosedive from great heights, descend rapidly, or slowly in a spiral, glide long distances, climb to great heights without moving a pinion, and land with, across, or against, the wind. I have seen airmen bring off all these feats, but there are still things the birds do which always beat man.

It is not often that birds collide in the air, but it does sometimes happen. I have seen two swallows meet, but at the moment of impact both did exactly the same thing, they "backpedalled" with their wings by beating them rapidly, turned up with their breasts touching and their tails fully spread, and checked their flight so successfully that neither was injured.

Formation flying with aeroplanes looks dangerous, and there have been 'tragic accidents when wings have touched. If we watch a flock of starlings we see aerial manoeuvring brought to perfection. There may be 30,000 birds in a compact mass, but at a moment's notice the whole formation wheels to right and left or up and down, with not one false movement. The birds seem to be so close together that we wonder their wings do not

touch, but there is always an inch or so of margin. In some country djstricts they believe that the spirits of dead soldiers have entered into the birds and this accounts for their aerial drill!

Birds beat man in the air because they have what we might call wind sense. They are able to tell instantly if the slightest breeze changes its direction; they always take advantage of it, and by using the current to assist them, are able to keep enormous energy in reserve. I recently took slow-motion photographs of birds in flight. My films showed clearly that some of the larger birds.use their tails to assist them. We know how a boatman propels his boat by using one oar placed over the stern; by moving this backwards and forwards with a circular movement, an action similar to that of a screw is brought about. Slow-motion photographs show us that the gannet uses this same movement with its tail when taking off from a cliff.

Birds use their feet to balance themselves when taking, off for a flight. When the wings are raised to their fullest height, it looks as though the bird is going to fall, but the feet are brought forward and swung backwards, and this appears to keep a perfect balance.

Artists used to show flight as a direct up-and-down movement of the wings, but photography shows us that it is a circular movement.