. Animal Life and the World of Nature; A magazine of Natural History. The Gait and Flight of Birds 321 proportionate to their bulk, they would still be unable to rise on the wing on account of the disproportionate difficulty their great size would cause; and we have no evidence that any bird able to fly has ever existed even of the size of the modern Ehea. At the same time it must be borne in mind that sometimes, at all events, large birds can rise easily enough; thus, Jerdon states that the Great Indian Bustard {Eupodotis edioardsi), which may attain a span of eight feet and a weight of nearl
. Animal Life and the World of Nature; A magazine of Natural History. The Gait and Flight of Birds 321 proportionate to their bulk, they would still be unable to rise on the wing on account of the disproportionate difficulty their great size would cause; and we have no evidence that any bird able to fly has ever existed even of the size of the modern Ehea. At the same time it must be borne in mind that sometimes, at all events, large birds can rise easily enough; thus, Jerdon states that the Great Indian Bustard {Eupodotis edioardsi), which may attain a span of eight feet and a weight of nearly thirty pounds, can spring into the air without running a single step, and eagles can manage to carry off objects of greater weight than themselves. The statements that any birds are unable to rise from level ground, so frequent in natural history books, should be received with caution. This is often said about Swifts, but in several experiments with the common Indian species (Gypselus affiius) I found that most healthy individuals could raise themselves. It is also known that Albatrosses and Frigate-Birds can do so, so that length of wing and shortness of leg combined do not incapacitate a brrd in this way. Circum- stances may alter cases. With regard to the short-winged diving-birds, which are also supposed to be very helpless in this respect, I have found the Indian Dabchick unable to rise off a lawn; but then the birds I tried were wild exhausted specimens from the bazaar. Gulls rise from the land with peculiar ease, not even troubling to stand up first if they happen to be lying down. In rising there is, accordingly, often some difficulty. A vigorous spring is usually made, as by most birds, or a run taken, as by those whose great size or pre-eminently aquatic adapta- tions render this necessary. On rising. Please note that these images are extracted from scanned page images that may have been digitally enhanced for readability - coloration and appearance of these illustr
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Keywords: ., bookcentury1900, bookdecade1900, bookpublisherlondo, bookyear1902
