In The Nest II

"Wings of Victory," set on Ythri, not on Avalon, initiates all human-Ythrian interactions. The title characters of  The People Of The Wind are Avalonian Ythrians and "birds," human beings who join choths and fly with gravbelts.

In the Nest:

Ythrians perch on stools;

they drink from glasses or inhale from narcobraziers;

a robot serves New African beer;

Arinnian greets Vodan with, "'Good flight to you,'" (VI, p. 505) in Planha but adds, "'I didn't expect to find you here,'" (ibid.) in Anglic;

Vodan, about to go to war, is accompanied not by his betrothed, and Arinnian's childhood friend, Eyath, but by one of the abnormal female Ythrians permanently on heat;

Arinnian, promiscuous with orthohuman women but idolizing female Ythrians and "bird" women as "clean," (p. 508) disapproves.

Vodan flies to his death.

The human xenologist lecturing on Ythrians had said that, despite the usually rigid sexual cycle, grief could bring on estrus:

"'Doubtless this was originally a provision of nature for rapid replacement of losses. It seems to have brought about a partial fusion of Eros and Thanatos in the Ythrian psyche which makes much of the race's art, and doubtless thought, incomprehensible to man.'" (IV, p. 484)

He can say that again.

The lecturer also explains the status of the abnormal females:

"'An occasional female can ovulate at will, though this is considered an abnormality; in olden days she would be killed, now she is generally shunned, out of dread of her power. A favorite villain in Ythrian story is the male who, by hypnosis or otherwise, can induce the state.'" (pp. 484-485)

Tabitha Falkayn comments:

"'...here's a case of Ythrian cultural lag. They've been affected by human ideas to the point where they don't give their abnormals a quick death. But they're still not interested in sponsoring rehabilitation or research on cures, or in simple charity.'" (VI, p. 508)

Similarly, one Cynthian trade route joins Technic civilization but does not help any other trade routes to accumulate enough capital to buy spaceships. The effects of interstellar civilization on nonhuman species are uneven and mixed.

Having greeted Vodan with "'Good flight...,'" Arinnian departs with, "'Fair winds forever.'" (VI, p. 507)

The Earth Book Of Stormgate opens:

"To those who read, good flight."
-Poul Anderson, The Earth Book Of Stormgate (New York, 1979), p. 1

- and concludes:

"Fair winds forever."
-op. cit., p. 434.