The morning news. [volume] (Savannah, Ga.) 1887-1900, 1898-10-29


hour But 1t has been calculated that II |
the godWit were flying at $50 miles an 1
hour Il would have to overcome a resist /
ance of air equal TO a pressure of 112 4
pounds per square foot, or considerably I
more than the force of hundred-mie (
hurricane. Other correspondents give in /
stances which leave little doubt that shore I
BIRDS TO travel az speeds considerably |
above fifty miles an hour: but as regards /
the flight of the pigeon, some experiments /
carried out by the proprietors of the Field /
many years aso leave little doubt that the /
speed shown in the Shetland flight is nor
NAL Twelve records with the chrome
graph gave highest speed 10 the blue
rock pigeon OF from 80 to IS miles an hour
Pheasants and partrdges were also sub
1ected TO experiment The former made a
record of 3S miles an hour and the part
ridges, when wei on the wing of 80 miles
The correspondents Of the Field have
ehdeaYored TO settle the question of the
speed of birds solely by observation. In
the absence of any mechanical aids, such
observations are most difficult to make
ana In the nature of things they fal short
of the certainty which would be desirable
The chief value of such contributions TO
the discussion IS that up to the present
date iirst-hand observations Of any kind
are scarce. meascr and contradictory
Every one has been struck by the phenom-
NtffN VI AAiSAAs dAillOSt no one mas IOQnd
time to take the necessary thought and
trouble to collect data on a subject so UNI
certain and elusive. When NJ Marcy
published his monumental work, lie Vol
des Oiseaux," in 1890, such records as he
was able to collect, though emlnently sug-
gestiVe, were only calculated to give uu-
certain notions; moreover. the conclusions
of different writer's did not agree M Van
Roosebeck, leading Belgian pigoon-flier
assigned to homing pigeons a maximum
speed OF from 100 to 100 miles an hour
Nitbers quotes a case of pigeon which
had flown nearly twenty miles in as many
minutes. Here is a difference of oue-half
between two authorities One OF the stand
ard references was an observed fight of
pigeons from Paris TO Spa, at the rate of
SO miles an hour The distance between the
two points Is $50 miles. Some of the So
called tables of birds speed must have
been drawn up on pure conjecture. Thus,
according to one authority. the quail flies
at IL meters per second the pigeon at q
meters. the falcon at IS meters (what fall
comp the swallow at 81 meters, and the
martin at IS meters, or about 95 yards per
second. Such comparisons are useless
without stating what kind of fight is
meant. The only flight which Is open to
comparison in the sense desired or rather
which can be compared with the means
at our disposal is the sustained fight of
birds from point to point. Not. for ex-
ample, the downward rush of a falcon af-
ter prey, or the dash of a partridge into
cover But there are cases in which even
these can be compared as when a bird
of prey pursues another bird. In this con-
nection this table of speed Is ridiculously
Inaccurate; the writer has seen a small
falcon, the hobby, pursue and catch
swallow on the wing, though the speed of
the latter is set down as four times greater
than that of the falcon.
Audubon's notes are more interesting
and probably nearer the truth. He found
in the crops of pigeons which he shot some
rice which they could not have gathered
nearer than Carolina, about $50 miles from
the place where they were shot. From the
state of digestion in which he found the
rice, he con tended that it had been six
hours in the birds crops, and that they
must, therefore. have flown The distance
at a speed of about mile minute. He
also estimated that the elder duck flies at
the speed of forty miles an hour, and the
wild duck a about forty-five miles an hour
in sustained flights. One obvious chance
of error In his calculation of the speed
of the pigeons Is the possibility that d.
gestion may have been partly arrested
while the birds were flying so long a dis
lance. Another statement dealing with
the frgate bird depends on the assumption
that Il neither flies by night nor sleeps on
the water. II this Is correct the distance
Travelled by these ocean birds in a single
day must amount to as much as 1900
miles; for they have been seen at dis
lance of more than 900 miles from any
coast or island. But no one can prove that
they do NOT fly by night and the effortless
soaring of these ocean birds suggests that
their power to remain on the wing is GER
taindy not limited to a period of twelve
hours. II seems contrary to all reason-tl
able conjecture that any bird should make
n Haf1r Hfeg,t OBJ
its roosting place. But there are means
available for discovering the real rate of
flight of the frigate bird not less accurate
than that of the carrier pigeon. According
to the Rev. S. G.. Whitmee, the frigate
birds are domeeticated by the natives of
the Ellice Islands. In 1870 he saw numbers
of them sitting about ON perches erected |
for them near the beach The natives
catch the young birds, tie them by the leg,
and feed them till they become tame Then |
they let them loose, when they regularly
90 out to sea TO obtain food and come back
TO Toost Advantage was taken Of this by
some of the missionaries to establish a
pigeon post" conducted by frgate birds
between the Islands, and Mr. Whltmee
himself saw more than one letter arrive |
In quill attached to the wing OF a frigate |
bird. Here there is a perfect opportunity
ready made for determining the speed of
the vol rame, one of the finest fiiers among
the whole nation Of birds. 1t Is not like
~ that the natives of these islands, or !
rather islets, north of Fiji and east Of Sa- |
moa, have ceased to tame the birds, and |
the missionaries now on the islands might |
renew the experiment of the past, and |
make a trustworthy record. We might |
add, Colonial papers please copy!"
A very ingenious means of observing the |
speed of flight was suggested by, NM. !
Liais and Mouillard. This was to fly a |
bird across some open area OF sand and |
measure the time at which the shadow |
crossed lines marked upon it. But the |
Photographic gun of NJ. Marcy gives ex-
cellent results. II the bird Is crossing the |
spectator it will take on a SPINNING disk |
images at the rate of ten In a second |
When the space between the images Is |
measured, and compared with the length |
of the birds body on the plate, the speed |
at which II Is travelling can be calculated |