Bird flutes

There are instruments in many cultures which are designed to harness the wind in order to make musical sounds, using bells, strings, and pipes, which have the word ‘aeolian’ in their names. These tiny aeolian flutes, each containing from two to eight notes, sound when the wind passes over the carefully shaped fipples, similar in concept to the mouthpiece of the recorder. They were tied on to the backs of pigeons so are very light, made of bamboo or a light wood.