Some
English tumblers are almost equally persistent. A writer, quoted by Mr.
Darwin, says that these birds generally begin to tumble almost as soon
as they can fly; "at three months old they tumble well, but still fly
strong; at five or six months they tumble excessively; and in the second
year they mostly give up flying, on account of their tumbling so much
and so close to the ground. Some fly round with the flock, throwing a
clean summersault every few yards till they are obliged to settle from
giddiness and exhaustion. These are called Air-tumblers, and they
commonly throw from twenty to thirty summersaults in a minute, each
clear and clean. I have one red cock that I have on two or three
occasions timed by my watch, and counted forty summersaults in the
minute. At first they throw a single summersault, then it is double,
till it becomes a continuous roll, which puts an end to flying, for if
they fly a few yards over they go, and roll till they reach the ground.
Thus I had one kill herself, and another broke his leg. Many of them
turn over only a few inches from the ground, and will tumble two or
three times in flying across their loft.
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