CHAPTER IV 



Modes of Flight 



" The soaring lark is blest as proud 

 When at Heaven's gate she sings ; 

 The roving bee proclaims aloud 

 Her flight by vocal wings." 



Wordsworth. 



The movements of the wing in flight — ^Marey's experiments — Stopping and 

 turning movements — Alighting — " Taking off " — Hovering — The use of the tail 

 in flight — ^The carriage of the neck in flight— And of the legs — The flight of 

 petrels — ^The speed of flight — The height at which birds fly — Flight with burdens 

 — Experiments on the sizes of the wing in relation to flight — ^Flight in " troops." 



WHILE it is possible to show that certain kinds of flight 

 are to be associated with such and such peculiarities 

 of the skeleton, and the muscles attached thereto, there are 

 many " eccentricities " which cannot be measured, and 

 explained, in terms of mechanism. 



The very disconcerting, twisting, flight of the snipe is 

 one of these. The sportsman knows it well : and he knows 

 that the twisting, during which the bird turns the body half 

 over — ^that is with, say, the left wing pointing directly down- 

 wards, and the right wing directly upwards — ^is only the 

 preliminary to getting fully on the way, and that, presently. 



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