birdsoup

If you are going on a long auto trip you want to maintain a steady speed.  One of the earliest indications of the speed that birds can maintain during migration dates back to the early 1600s.  A Peregrine falcon belonging to King Henry IV, King of France from 1589 until 1610, escaped from Fontainebleau and was recovered the next day in Malta, 1340 miles away.  The bird had maintained an average speed of 55 miles per hour for 24 straight hours –  that is a good safe speed, below the legal speed limit on InterState highways.