Abstract
MY attention has been drawn to some correspondence in NATURE, May 2 and 9, on the “Sailing Flight of the Albatross,” in which reference is made to my father's letter to Sir William Thomson on the subject. At Sir William Thomson's suggestion, I am now about to condense the rest of my father's correspondence on the subject into a form convenient for publication. In the meantime I will only say that while Mr. Baines's very interesting letter, and his explanation of the phenomenon of “soaring,” appear to me perfectly sound in principle (and indeed we have Lord Rayleigh's authority for this view), my father's statements seem to prove that his own solution is also the true explanation of the soaring under the (different) circumstances in which he observed it. It appears to me only reasonable to suppose that the birds instinctively learn to avail themselves of all the different natural conditions which under different circumstances may serve them to maintain their flight with the smallest exertion.
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FROUDE, R. Sailing Flight of the Albatross. Nature 40, 102 (1889). https://doi.org/10.1038/040102d0
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/040102d0
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