Abstract
THE experience gained from flights on aëroplanes and from the behaviour of airships may throw some light on why migratory birds follow certain routes. Pilots in aëroplanes can easily see rivers and ponds, and these form better guides than roads and railways; main roads, now usually tar-coated, are not conspicuous, while the lighter coloured by-roads are more easily seen. There is evidence that migration routes are often along coast lines and river valleys; these are most conspicuous features in an uninhabited country, and birds when flying in the daytime below the clouds could have no difficulty in following them by sight.
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References
Report on Eight Balloon Ascents in 1862 by James Glaisher, F.R.S. B.A. Report, 1862, p. 490.
See Papers on Mechanical and Physical Subjects by Osborne-Reynolds, F.R.S., pp. 89 and 157.
Certain carnivorous birds have their eves more in front; birds follow the same general rule as other animals; the eyes of the hunter are in front which must help him to see his prey, and the eyes of the hunted are at the side of the head to enable him to watch his pursuer.
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DARWIN, H. Migration Routes . Nature 92, 370–371 (1913). https://doi.org/10.1038/092370b0
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/092370b0
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