Direct-authored thread on the book's falcon-speed anecdotes: the Andalusia-to-Tenerife flight and Henry II's Fontainebleau-to-Malta falcon.

The Fastest Bird Alive (in 1848)

A falcon flown from Andalusia was found alive in Tenerife — roughly 752 miles away — about sixteen hours later.

The Fastest Bird Alive (in 1848)

Separately, one of Henry II's falcons escaped at Fontainebleau and was recaptured in Malta the very next morning.

The Fastest Bird Alive (in 1848)

From that second flight, the book estimates a speed of about seventy-five miles an hour — sustained, not a burst.

The Fastest Bird Alive (in 1848)

Two falcons, two long-distance flights, one number the book keeps landing on: about seventy-five miles an hour.

The Fastest Bird Alive (in 1848)