Abstract
THERE can scarcely be a doubt that Prof. E. H. Hall has given, in NATURE of October 10, the true explanation of the sailing flight of gulls when they follow a ship without any movement of their wings. When there is a fairly strong head-wind or a wind which, without being strictly a head-wind, makes a small angle with the line of the ship's course, the gull has an up-current of air provided for him which will not only support him, but which, if he inclines his body (and supporting surfaces generally) slightly downward, will enable him to make headway.
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HEADLEY, F. Sailing Flight of Birds. Nature 90, 220 (1912). https://doi.org/10.1038/090220b0
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/090220b0
