BRITISH BIRDS OF FASTEST FLIGHT 59 
towards us. The result was usually very high 
birds flying downhill and very fast. On several 
occasions at the same time came a blackcock and 
a cock pheasant, of which there were a few in 
almost every drive. Incidentally, most of the 
pheasants we shot were old birds with long spurs, 
so were very strong on the wing. In each case — 
and I noticed several — the blackcock outflew the 
pheasant by what seemed to be about 50 per cent 
in pace, leaving him as a racing car would a 
' runabout.' 
" The chance of comparison was very interest- 
ing, being between birds of much the same 
weight and size, both started under the same 
conditions, and I think ' doing their best.' Had 
the blackcock come alone, I think his much 
slower wing beat would have made one think him 
the slower flier of the two." 
The blackcock and grouse have wings exactly 
alike — but the blackcock is heavier than the 
grouse and much faster. 
With the exception of the diff'erence in the 
wings mentioned above, the structure of the eagle 
and falcon is very similar, and as has been pointed 
out, the larger of two birds of similar structure 
once it gets going is almost invariably faster. 
