6. The last great haunt of life is the air, a mastery of which must be
placed to the credit of insects, Pterodactyls, birds, and bats. These
have been the successes, but it should be noted that there have been
many brilliant failures, which have not attained to much more than
parachuting. These include the Flying Fishes, which take leaps from the
water and are carried for many yards and to considerable heights,
holding their enlarged pectoral fins taut or with little more than a
slight fluttering. There is a so-called Flying Frog (_Rhacophorus_) that
skims from branch to branch, and the much more effective Flying Dragon
(_Draco volans_) of the Far East, which has been mentioned already.
Among mammals there are Flying Phalangers, Flying Lemurs, and more
besides, all attaining to great skill as parachutists, and illustrating
the endeavour to master the air which man has realised in a way of his
own.
The power of flight brings obvious advantages. A bird feeding on the
ground is able to evade the stalking carnivore by suddenly rising into
the air; food and water can be followed rapidly and to great distances;
the eggs or the young can be placed in safe situations; and birds in
their migrations have made a brilliant conquest both of time and space.
Many of them know no winter in their year, and the migratory flight of
the Pacific Golden Plover from Hawaii to Alaska and back again does not
stand alone.