Evening star., 1937-01-22
THIS AND THAT
BY CHARLES &. TRACEWELL.

Each one Of these rabbits meant some
thing to itself. It did not know 1t was
intended to be part Of garment.
= It's agility and grace and soft fur, each
served g purpose in the rabbits own life.
%x Hk
The speed with which a birds claws
move, in changing position on a perch,
means to the bird that 1t is better able
to function.
To the human observer 1t will mean
that here is just a new field for watch
ing, part and parcel Of the whole In
teresting problem of flight and its lesser
aids, perching and diving.
Land birds, so called, make use Of the
dive. too, although one may not regard
the action in that light at first.
But watch any bird at feeding sta
ton and you will see that diving is one
Of the main actions Of just ordinary birds.
even such lowly but interesting speci-
mems as the ubiquitous English SPAR
rows.
Often one Of these birds will grab q
seed, then make as pretty a dive to the
ground as one would wish to see.
Perhaps glide would be q more accu-
rate term, but in watching this sport
and the birds love tit Is impossible to
be sure it is complete glide, since the
bird permits itself to fall off the plat
form, often head first, righting itself as 1t
goes down. Just what happens in this
action is another test for eyesight. Per-
haps only the slow motion picture
camera could really show what goes on
in even so simple bird action as this.
Birds ara biobIv roopi1ad ,orvoueIy
that is why their motions impress q
human observer as f1dgety in the ex-
treme, but really they are not so. The
bird is simply twitching as part of its
life program. Many of its motions are
Of the jerky sort, owing to the construc-
tion and pull of the muscles, and not
because 1t Is particularly sensitive.
One Is apt to think of the muscular
activity of birds as being always In
short, rapid motions, such as the eleva-
ton and Tapping Of the wings, twisting
of the neck, forward motion of the head
in picking up seed, and so on, but
they have many other motions which
are of a more sustained character, the
one of major Importance, of course, being
flight itself. which is the very poetry of
motion.
Modern investigation shows that air
plane flight is more on the order of the
sustained motion of some of our flying
fishes than along the lines of bird flying,
but still there is enough in the latter
to make most observers feel that the
bird is the true forerunner of mankinds
aerial winged ships.
The grace Of movement Of small birds
In trees, shrubs and feeding stations Is
worthy Of constant observation. They
are complete masters of what they do,
even when not in flight. Their hops and
walks-for birds may be classified as to
whether they are hoppers or runners
are quick but easy to the eye, and if the
observer cannot be sure he sees every
thing that goes on, he merely realizes
that the old magicians were right, after
ALL
Birds even skate gracefully. We know
feeding station with a peaked roof,
which has been painted with one of
these modern quick-drying compounds.
When this Is wet in a rain, it is evi-
IDENTIFY as slick as glass, and birds which
attempt to walk down just coast down.
much to their evident surprise They are.
however, masters Of the situation, and
simply slide into the air, their real ele-
ment,