THE EMPIRE OF THE AIR. 



449 



tbat of the vultures of the aucieut coutiuent, wi; uiay say, without lisk- 

 iug a mistake, that their ino(h' of perfonuauce in th(» air is ])ra('fi(*ally 

 tlie sauie. 



We coiunuMid tlw s|>ecial study of the ways of the tawuy \ iilture. 

 I'his will better — iu fi\'e luiiiutt^s — exphiiu the aetioii of sailiujjj 

 riiii'lit and the possibility- of its imitation thau louii' observations of all 

 the other families of bir<ls. 



The dominant note in this tli,<;ht, the reiuarkabh' feature, is the 

 deeided tendeney to perform all reipiired mauanivers and e\'olutious 

 by giiding', by soarini;' tii^iit, and t(t avoid all performances whieh in- 

 volve fla])piuii' t lie wings. The oricou and the arriau are iu the same 

 category: they even exaggerate this tendency. ^Vll these lai-ge birds 

 only beat the air when there is a di^ul calm, an atniosi)heric cinaim- 

 stauce quite rare iu Egy])t, and as the slightest breeze suffices for 

 their support it is rarel\' the traiujuillity of the air which keeps them 

 at rest. Kain troubles them uuu-h more than a calm; thev seeui 



Fl(i. 111. — 'I'lic t;nvii\ Niilliirc. 



to dread having wet wings. (heat winds also disorder the econ- 

 omy of tlieir mode of iiiglit ; they are proportioned to sail well 

 ui)Oii an aN'crage wind, so when the wind freshens much they begin 

 to encounter difliculties; and when it Idows a tempest they seek shel- 

 ter and (h) not stir out. 'I'his i-esults from the great breadth of their 

 wings, a breadth which by the resistaiu-e it oifers completely deranges 

 their facilities for locomotion. 



In ordiu- to encounter strong eurrents of air, there must be narrow 

 wings; tlius, ol>serve the gulls, tlu^ stoiiny ]»etrel,the albatross. In a 

 wind where all aboard ship is clewed np yon will see them in full 

 activity, chasing ardently and moving with ease — they are in tlu'ir 

 element; there is no beating tln^ air; they are then, as it were, set on 

 two rigid supports, much carved downwards, skimming the wave with 

 astonishing i)re»-ision, lingering it with their wing tips, rising and 

 descending with the billows without ever being overtaken. These 

 same birds, in a wind of 11 miles per hour, a ligiit breeze, are com- 

 H. Mis. IU 29 



