Part 6

As was recently pointed out in an interesting article by Colonel R. Meinertzhagen, D.S.O.: “Birds have two speeds: a normal rate, which is used for everyday purposes and also for migration, and an accelerated speed, which is used for protection, or pursuit, and which in some cases nearly doubles the rate of their normal speed; some of the heavier birds can probably only accelerate to a slight extent. In this conclusion I am naturally excepting courtship flight, which is usually of an accelerated nature.”

To quote the words of Major C. R. E. Radclyffe: “The only possible test we can accept is where two birds are matched one against the other, and we are certain they are both trying their hardest. No better test than this is the case of a hawk pursuing its quarry, when it means to one of them its food and to the other its life.”

The same writer draws attention to a common fallacy: “It is,” he says, “purely a matter of optical illusion to imagine that a smaller-sized bird is flying faster than a larger bird of similar shape and make; for example, a snipe on rising ground seems to go much faster than a woodcock, similarly a teal than a duck, and possibly this may be so for a short distance, but put up the first two together, and also the last two, and let there be a peregrine after them--as I have seen many times--and the scene is amazing to a man who is not a falconer, as the smaller bird is overhauled first every time by the falcon, and presumably they are all trying their hardest.... I have dozens of times put up a peregrine over ponds and marshes where teal and ducks were sitting together, and then flushed the wild fowl all simultaneously. In every case without any exception the first bird overhauled and brought to the ground has been a teal and in the case of a long flight, when every bird has been flying for its life, the further they go the further the teal lag behind the wild ducks. The same remarks apply to woodcock and snipe, to black game and grouse, to pheasants and partridges--all of which I have flushed simultaneously in front of hawks.”

In dealing with the same point in a letter written to me, Major Radclyffe makes the following interesting observations:

“... Few people realize that a pheasant flies much faster than a partridge when they have both been going a short distance. If you flush an old cock pheasant and a covey of partridges together in a big field of turnips, you will see the partridges are quickest ‘off the mark’ and away with a bit of a lead, but the pheasant will catch them, and be first over the fence if they have 200 or 300 yards to go.

“Again take as an example a woodcock and a snipe. I have several times flushed these two birds together, and in no time the woodcock has left the snipe far behind him, and yet I believe that ninety-nine sportsmen out of a hundred would say the snipe flies faster than the woodcock.

“I have seen woodcocks give my hawks some great long-distance flights before they are overtaken and turned; but a snipe has no show at all when trying to keep ahead of a peregrine or merlin in straight flight.”

In his letter to the Field already referred to, Major Radclyffe further says: “There is no doubt whatever that the heavier bird of similar type is far the faster on the wing when once it gets going.”

It was suggested in one of the letters to the Field that whilst this is no doubt the general rule there is at least one exception to it. “If asked,” said the writer, “to quote any instance when the smaller bird is faster than a larger one of similar type, I should say that the pochard (Fuligula ferina) is faster on the wing than the common mallard, as I have seen the former pass mallards on the wing when both have been flying before a falcon. But from my experience of over thirty years as a falconer, a naturalist, and a shooter, I should say that the above case is one of the rare exceptions where the heaviest bird is not the fastest on the wing if each bird is trying its hardest and best.”

Colonel Meinertzhagen, whilst agreeing that the heavier bird of similar type is the faster flier once it gets going, has kindly sent me the following observations on the foregoing statements as to the pochard and mallard. “The common pochard is not a bird of ‘similar type’ to a mallard, the one being a diving duck and the other surface-feeding. They differ in the proportion of wing area to body weight, also in bone structure. The pochard and all diving duck, probably fly faster than surface-feeding duck under similar conditions, having heavier bodies in proportion to the wing area than is ever found among surface-feeding duck. The eider duck, which is even heavier than the ordinary diving duck (Nyroca), probably flies faster than them all when once started.”

4. There must be a standard length of flight to which the test is to be applied.

If the question were asked, “Who is the faster runner, A or B?” the reply would surely be “To what distance are you referring?” A short or a long distance? Applying the analogy, it is obvious that a bird might be much faster than another for a short distance, but if the flight has to be prolonged, may not have the lasting powers of another bird, and therefore would be beaten on the longer course.

It seems likely that the fact of not considering one or other of these points may account for the difference in regard to some of the views held by observers of experience. For instance, may it not account for the fact that there is such a marked difference of opinion as to whether the peregrine is faster than the golden plover? May it not be true that for a short distance the latter bird may be the faster flier, but that in consequence of its lack of staying power it is overtaken before it goes half a mile unless it can elude its pursuer by twists and turns. In this connection it is worth recalling the experiences of that acute and accurate observer Charles St. John: “The golden plover,” he writes, “is a favourite prey, and affords the hawk a severe chace before he is caught. I have seen a pursuit of this kind last for nearly ten minutes--the plover turning and doubling like a hare before greyhounds, at one moment darting like an arrow into the air, high above the falcon’s head; at the next sweeping round some bush or headland--but in vain. The hawk with steady relentless flight, without seeming to hurry himself, never gives up the chace till the poor plover, seemingly quite exhausted, slackens her pace, and is caught by the hawk’s talons in mid-air and carried off to a convenient hillock or stone to be quietly devoured.”

Colonel Meinertzhagen has been so kind as to consider the observations I have made above, and writes:

“I should doubt whether the golden plover has less staying power than the peregrine. The former migrates long distances (thousands of miles, in the case of the American golden plover, a bird almost identical with ours, which goes from Labrador to Brazil by sea), whereas the peregrine is nowhere believed to be a regular or persistent migrant over long distances. It is more probable that the peregrine is a faster bird than the golden plover and that the latter becomes exhausted by continued acceleration and fear, whereas the peregrine is accustomed to long periods of accelerated flight and is stimulated by hunger.”

Again in reference to the difference of opinion as to whether the teal is faster than the mallard, may it not be possible that both views may be correct? in other words, that it depends upon the length of flight which the writer is considering. It may be noticed that Major Radclyffe in the passage which I have quoted above (p. 28) seems to consider it may be possible that for a short distance the teal may be faster than the mallard, though he has no doubt that the latter bird will very soon overtake the former.

The falconer has certainly more and better opportunities of seeing birds flying at their maximum rate of speed than any one else. “He also has,” to use Captain Portal’s words, “the advantage of possessing in his trained hawk a known quantity with which to compare the performances of other birds.”

Captain Portal has flown hawks at many different kinds of birds during the last fifteen years, and has made certain estimates which have been arrived at after a great deal of comparison and analysis of data obtained while hawking, shooting, flying in aeroplanes, travelling in cars and trains, and walking in the country. He says: “My figures cannot be correct for every member of each species, as I have seen one partridge in an October covey fly quite 15 per cent faster than any of its companions when all were at full speed. All I have tried to do is to strike an average for the species, the speed given being the maximum pace at which the bird can cover the ground in level flight through still air.”

The speeds given for the peregrine and merlin are those of good trained birds; the wild ones are faster. Here are the figures:

Golden Plover 70 miles per hour. Teal and Blackcock 68 ” ” Peregrine 62 ” ” Pheasant and Grouse 60 ” ” Mallard 58 ” ” Merlin and Blue Rock 55 ” ” Partridge 53 ” ” Green Plover } Jackdaw } 48 ” ” Wood Pigeon 45 ” ” Starling 44 ” ” Kestrel 43 ” ” Rook 40 ” ” Landrail 35 ” ”

The speed attained by golden plover when pressed has been estimated by airmen at over 60 miles per hour.

Colonel R. Meinertzhagen, from whom I have also quoted above, states that he finds, “after eliminating abnormal conditions and observations based on meagre evidence, that the normal and migratory flight in miles per hour (ground speed) is as follows:

Ducks 44-59 Geese 42-55 Waders 34-51 (but mostly from 40 to 51) Starlings 38-49 Falcons 40-48 Corvidae 31-45 Tame Pigeons 30-36 The smaller Passeres 20-37”

Amongst the birds which are claimed by different high authorities to be the fastest British birds are the swift, the peregrine, the golden plover, the teal, the wild duck, and the curlew.

It is curious that in the various controversies on the subject no one appears to have contended that the golden eagle may possibly be the fastest flier amongst British birds. This may be because, except in certain parts of the country, the eagle is never seen, and there is necessarily very little opportunity of comparing his speed with that of other birds. In particular the falconer, whose opportunities of comparing the speed of birds are, as I have already stated, greater than those of any other class of men, has no opportunities in the case of the eagle. Moreover, the flight of the eagle, like that of some of the fastest flying birds, for instance, the blackcock, is very deceptive. He is in fact flying much faster than he appears to be--“The eagle’s flight, when passing from one point to another, is peculiarly expressive of strength and vigour. He wends his way with deliberate strong strokes of his powerful wing, every stroke apparently drawing him on a considerable distance, and in this manner advancing through the air as rapidly as the pigeon or any other bird which may appear to fly much more quickly.”

From a Photograph by THE LADY ANNE MURRAY of Loch Carron.]

The answer to the question, Which of the two birds, the eagle or the peregrine, is the faster flier, must even on a horizontal flight be a matter of pure conjecture. On the one hand, the peregrine has the advantage of pointed wings which make for increased wing power and speed, whilst the eagle’s wings are rounded. On the other hand, there is a great similarity between the general build and structure of the two birds, and there is the fact emphasised by Major Radclyffe in the letters from which I have quoted above, that, as between two birds of different size but of similar shape and make, the larger and heavier bird will almost invariably fly faster than the smaller and lighter one once the former really gets going. It is, of course, true that the peregrine is much quicker in its movements and more agile than the eagle. It is constantly under the necessity of flying at its fastest (which the eagle is not) in order to secure its food; in other words, to use the language of a stalker in discussing this question with me: “The peregrine requires a warm diet, and lives on its prey. The eagle, on the other hand, will eat carrion.” The peregrine is probably quicker off the mark than the eagle, but this does not necessarily mean that he flies more quickly than the eagle once the latter gets going. Stalkers have unusual opportunities of seeing these two birds in flight, and almost all those with whom I have discussed this question believe that on a horizontal flight the peregrine is faster than the eagle. This in my opinion is probably the correct view.

It must not be forgotten that the Northern falcons, or, as they are generally called, the gyrfalcons, are entitled to rank as British birds, although they are rare visitors to these Isles. They are (1) the gyrfalcon or Norwegian variety (Falco gyrfalco), (2) the Iceland falcon (Falco islandus), (3) the Greenland falcon (Falco candicans). The gyrfalcon is a very rare visitor here, two recorded specimens only having been obtained here and one of these is doubtful. The Iceland falcon is a rare visitor also, although identified examples have been obtained here from time to time. The Greenland falcon is an irregular winter and spring visitor, but there are more recorded instances of this species than in the case of the Iceland falcon. The former bird, the prevailing ground colour of which is white, is the most beautiful of all birds of prey. By some authorities it is considered merely a race of the Iceland falcon, which it resembles in size and habits. The eggs of the two birds resemble one another. All these Northern falcons are about the same size and larger than, though very similar in structure to, the peregrine falcon. Speaking generally, the difference in length is about 5 inches, in wing 2 inches. They have been very highly valued in Europe for hawking, and, as would be expected from their superior size and similar structure, are undoubtedly faster than peregrines.