BIPD ADAPTATIONS 



IRVING: Rough calculations which I have tried to make and 

 which I do not trust suggest that water may be much more criti- 

 cal than the fat. 



WEST: You are thinking, of course, of birds that are flying 

 over the ocean. 



IRVING: Yes. 



WEST: And I am always thinking of sparrows that hop, skip, 

 and jump 100 miles a flight and then come down. 



IRVING: This flight is nothing to them; it takes an hour or two. 



WEST: Yes, they do about 30 miles an hour, roughly. How long 

 does it take for an Arctic Tern or Golden Plover to go its distance 

 non-stop? Do they not go very fast? 



IRVING: The travel of the plover from Alaska to Hawaii and 

 from New Foundland or Nova Scotia to South America is a couple 

 thousand miles non-stop. 



WEST: How many hours, forty- eight hours? 



IRVING: It is in the order of a couple of days rather than so 

 many hours. 



WEST: I think they could probably make it all right with respect 

 to water requirements. 



PROSSER: Are you sure they never put down? 



IRVING: It has not been observed and it is inconceivable that 

 they could derive any benefit from it except to sit out the time. 

 They are not swimming birds. They could not feed there. 



HART: Gould they drink the sea water and excrete the salt? 



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