What is a dippy bird, and how is it used?
1. The armature: the body of the bird is a straight tube attached to two bulbs, approximately the same size, one at either end. The tube flows into the upper bulb, like the neck of a funnel, and extends almost to the bottom of the lower bulb, like the straw in a lemonade. 2. The pivot: at about the middle of the tube is clamped a transverse bar that allows the apparatus to pivot on a stand (the legs). The bar is bent very slightly concave dorsally, to unbalance the bird in the forward direction (thus discouraging dips to the rear). The ends of the pivot have downward protrusions that hit stops on the stand placed so that the bird is free to rock when in a vertical position, but cannot quite rotate enough to be horizontal during a dip. 3. The wick: the upper bulb is coated in fuzzy material, and has extended from it a beak made of or covered in the same material. 4. The tail: this has no significant external features, except that it should not be insulated (skin-oil deposited on the bir
1. The armature: The body of the bird is a straight tube attached to two bulbs, approximately the same size, one at either end. The tube flows into the upper bulb, like the neck of a funnel, and extends almost to the bottom of the lower bulb, like the straw in a soda. 2. The pivot: At about the middle of the tube is clamped a transverse bar, which allows the apparatus to pivot on a stand (the legs). The bar is bent very slightly concave dorsally, to unbalance the bird in the forward direction (thus discouraging dips to the rear). The ends of the pivot have downward protrusions, which hit stops on the stand placed so that the bird is free to rock when in a vertical position, but can not quite rotate enough to be horizontal during a dip. 3. The wick: The upper bulb is coated in fuzzy material, and has extended from it a beak, made of or covered in the same material. 4. The tail. The tail has no significant external features, except that it should not be insulated (skin-oil deposited on t
