AIRMEN V. BIRDS

Evening Star, Issue 22913, 22 March 1938, Page 13

AIRMEN V. BIRDS

WHERE THE LATTER EXCEL Watching a display by airmen,' w« often marvel at their manoeuvres* but 1 have never yet seen a stunt that has not also been performed by a bird* says Oliver G. Pike, F.Z.S. Birds loop-the-loop, turn on their backs while flying at full speed, nose* dive 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. X 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 ex* actly the same thing, they “ backpedalled " with their wings by beating them rapidly, turned up with theie breasts touching and their tails fully spread, and checked their flight se successfully that neither was injured. Formation flying with aeroplane* 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 ba 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 on so of margin. In some ’country districts they believe that the spirits oi dead soldiers have entered into the birds and this accounts for their' aerial drill 1

Birds beat man in the air because they have what we might tall wind sense. They are able to tell instantly if the slightest breeze changes its di< rection; they always take advantage of it, and by using the current ta assist them, are able to keep enormous energy in reserve. I recently took slow-motion photo* graphs of birds in flight. My films showed clearly that some, of the large? birds use their tails to assist them. Wa 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 photo* graphs show us that the.gannet use* this same movement with its tail when taking off from a cliff. ' Birds use their, feet to balance themselves when taking off .tor 4 flight. When the wings are raised to their fullest height, it looks a* though the bird is going to tall, but the feet are brought forward and swung back* wards, and this appears to keep a per* feet balance. A r tists used to show flight as a direct up-nndrdown movement of tba wings, but photography show* us that it is a circular movement.