RAPIDITY OF FLIGHT. 73 



at particular times of the year, it is necessary to say a little 

 on the speed with which they can pass through the air, and 

 their capacity for continuing on the wing without being 

 fatigued. Few people, we believe, are aware of the very 

 great rapidity of a bird's flight, and many will doubtless be 

 surprised when they are informed, that even our slower birds 

 can most of them make their way at the rate of thirty 

 miles an hour, without any extraordinary effort; but that, if 

 pressed, they can considerably exceed that speed. There is 

 an easy way of ascertaining with tolerable accuracy the rate 

 of a bird's flight, which from experience we can recommend 

 as equally amusing and interesting. It is this: 



Suppose any bird, a Partridge, for instance, rises in the 

 middle of a stubble, and flies in a straight line over a hedge; 

 all the observer has to do is to note by the seconds hand 

 of a watch (and those who not have seconds-hand watches 

 may easily learn, at least sufficiently for practical purposes, to 

 count them), the number of seconds between the moment 

 of the bird's rising and that of its topping the hedge ; and 

 then ascertain the distance between the point from whence 

 it rose and the hedge by stepping and counting the 

 number of paces ; when, supposing each pace to be a yard, 

 we have a common Rule of Three sum. Thus, if a 

 Partridge, in three seconds, flies one hundred yards, how 

 many yards will it fly in 3600 seconds, or one hour ? or 



seconds yards seconds 



as 3 : 100 : : 3600: the number of yards required, 

 which will be 3600 ^ 100 or 120,000 yards, which will 

 amount to (as there are 1760 yards in a mile) about sixty 

 miles an hour. 



Again, suppose some Starlings are seen feeding in a 

 field at A, at no great distance from a church tower, B c, 

 in which they are building ; or a Crow flies from a certain 

 spot to the top of a tree; we may proceed in the same 

 manner : for the height of the tower or tree will, in most 

 cases, be too inconsiderable to make any material alteration 

 in the result, though, if greater accuracy is required, it may 



