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Bird flight has always intrigued mankind. This book provides an up-to-date account of our existing knowledge on the subject, offering new insights and challenging some established views. A brief history of the science of flight introduces the basic physical principles governing aerial locomotion. This is followed by a treatment of flight-related functional morphology, concentrating on the difference in shape of the arm and hand part of the wings, on the structure and function of tails, and on the shape of the body. The anatomy and mechanical properties of feathers receive special attention. Ae