The Soaring of Birds | Nature
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MY thanks are due to Mr. R. Courtenay for the notice he has taken (NATURE, vol. xxviii. p. 28) of my letter on the Soaring of Birds (vol. xxvii. p. 592). It is a great satisfaction to me to
find my general conclusion supported by his observations. As to the possibility of a soaring bird utilising a downward current of air, I stand corrected. There is no difficulty in agreeing
with Mr. Courtenay that the bird, finding itself in a downward current “will descend swiftly o as to acquire the necessary impetus for a rapid escape;”—that is to say, it will seek to make
the best of a bad bargain. But it is not so easy to see that the bird, in a current approaching the perpendicular, will “acquire an impetus much more than compensating for the slight loss of
elevation;”—that is, will actually make a profit out of a seemingly adverse condition.
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