The Gait and Flight of Birds - gel 
proportionate to their bulk, they would still be unable to rise on the wing on account 
of the disproportionate difficulty their great size would cause; and we have no evidence 
that any bird able to fly has ever existed even of the size of the modern Rhea. 
At the same time it must be borne in mind that sometimes, at all events, large 
birds can rise easily enough; thus, Jerdon states that the Great Indian Bustard 
(Eupodotis edwardst), which may attain a span of eight feet and a weight of nearly 
thirty pounds, can spring into the air without running a single step, and eagles can 
manage to carry off objects of greater weight than themselves. 
The statements that any birds are unable to rise from level ground, so frequent in 
natural history books, should be received with caution. This is often said about Swifts, 
but in several experiments with 
the common Indian species 
(Cypselus affinis) I found that 
most healthy individuals could 
raise themselves. It is also 
known that Albatrosses and 
Frigate-Birds can do so, so that 
length of wimg and shortness of 
leg combined do not incapacitate 
a bird in this way. Circum- 
stances may alter cases. With 
regard to the short-winged 
diving-birds, which are also 
supposed to be very helpless in 
this respect, I have found the 
Indian Dabechick unable to rise 
Fig. 7. Cormorant swimming. 
off a lawn; but then the birds I tried ; 
were wild exhausted specimens from Ko 
the bazaar. Gulls rise from the land 
with peculiar ease, not even troubling 
to stand up first if they happen to 
be lying down. ac 
In rising there is, accordingly, often S = 
some difficulty. A vigorous spring is f =o 
usually made, as by most birds, or a Sai, eae 
run taken, as by those whose great = ZI 
size or pre-eminently aquatic adapta- 
tions render this necessary. On rising Se a a er ; 
Fig. 8. Gull swimming. 
from water, birds are more apt 
to paddle along the surface 
than they are to run when 
on land, and all the more 
awkward species lke to be 
head to wind in this case, as 
without this assistance the 
difficulty is likely to be in- 
surmountable. 
Once launched, the bird 
Fig. 9. Penguin diving may continue its course by 
