Kenneth Ernspiker, age 11, Jeffersontown"`p ' ., for his question;

How does a bird fly?

A bird’s wings are really feathery arms and he uses them to beat the air into cushions on which he climbs up. into the sky, once aloft he can soar on a cushiony draft of rising air, and he knows just where to find such updrafts. Some birds can soar for hours without moving a wing.

The air, of course, is a mixture of gasses and, though we cannot see it or smell it, it is all around us. Whenever you move, you make a hole through it: As you walk, you push the air ahead of you where it becomes a little thicker or denser, Since it is made of gases, it quickly flows around before you can leave an empty space behind you and this all happens so fast and so smoothly that you do not notice it,

This streamlining action of the air, however, is very important to a bird. He is built to male use of it in flight. The downbeat of his wings builds a cushion of slightly denser air below him. In the downbeat, the stiff feathers of his wings are tightly‑ closed together so that no air can seep through to puncture the cushion. The bird uses this pad of denser air to hoist himself up one rung on his stepladder into the sky. This is when his wings make their upbeat. Now the stiff pinions are angled and spread slightly apart so that the air can whistle through them. Down come the wings again and the graceful bard climbs another step up his invisible ladder of air.

Every part of the birds body is built for flight. For his size' he is the lightest of all animals. As a rules his entire skeleton weighs less than his feathers. Most of the bones are hollow and filled with air. There are also other air sacs throughout the bird’s body and all of them connect with his lungs. He can fill them at will to make his body light and buoyant or to store extra air for breathing. This is why you never see a robin or any other bird panting for breath.  _

The bird's body is perfectly streamlined to glide through the air. He has no outer ears to flap in the breezes no fluffy fur to tangle his flight. He is covered with light, smooth, warm, waterproof feathers and each of his feathers is a small miracle. It is a light hollow shaft firmed into the skin. Each side of the shaft is fringed with fine silken barbs and each of the barbs is fringed with still finer barbules, too small for our eyes to sec. In the large feathers, the barbule bear tiny hooks which can the entire feather into a stiff, solid ribbon. It is these stiff foatliers which a bird uses to climb his invisible stepladder up into the sky.