Are we told whether Ythrians are able to dive for fish? Given their large feathered bodies, they probably can't. The Japanese use fishing cormorants with a brass ring around the neck to prevent them from swallowing large fish. Thus, inter-species cooperation although not between two intelligent species.
I was reminded of Ythrians when Kissy Suzuki's cormorant:
"...went to his perch, where he stood with wings magnificently outstretched to dry and waited in this lordly stance for his boatman to take him back home to his cove."
-Ian Fleming, You Only Live Twice (London, 1966), p. 133.
If we can imagine an intelligent cormorant, then he might be like an Ythrian although the latter are not birds, giving live birth and having lips, not beaks.
1 comment:
Kaor, Paul!
Physically speaking, Ythrians found it far more difficult than humans to endure the close quarters of long space journeys. And not only that, it was harder for them to adapt to other planets than it was for other races.
No, Ythrians cannot endure being IN water, as we see in "Wingless." Their very bodies makes them totally unable to swim. And readers will also recall how awkwardly they move and walk on land when not flying.
All this makes me wondered if evolution had overspecialized Ythrians to be flyers, that they were not as able to exploit their environments as non flyers.
Sean
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