take an airing

Hi everyone, please, from Peter Pan:

As we shall not see her again, it may be worth mentioning here that all Never birds now build in that shape of nest, with a broad brim on which the youngsters take an airing.

A Never bird got her eggs on a hat and that is her nest now. Please, what does take an airing mean?

Thanks!

Gabriel Aparta said:

Please, what does take an airing mean?

Click to expand...

It means that they stand on the brim of the nest and expose themselves to the air. Perhaps they do that when they are trying to cool off. Perhaps they take an airing for some other reason that isn't entirely clear to me.

It was important for human babies in Victoria's reign (i.e. during the writer's lifetime) to get plenty of "clean, fresh air", by being left outside in the garden in their prams for several hours a day. I think this may be something similar, applied in a humorous way to the little nestlings. Apparently, it was normal also for English people to sleep with their bedroom windows open, even in winter.

This obsession was not as irrational as it may seem to us today:
The Victorian Obsession with 'Clean Air'

velisarius said:

[...]it was normal also for English people to sleep with their bedroom windows open, even in winter.[...]

Click to expand...

When Louisa May Alcott worked as a nurse (sister) during the American Civil War, she insisted on keeping the windows in the ward open, even though the wounded soldiers complained of the cold. She was more concerned about infection—with good reason, since she became seriously ill while working there.

The Newt said:

When Louisa May Alcott worked as a nurse (sister) during the American Civil War, she insisted on keeping the windows in the ward open, even though the wounded soldiers complained of the cold. She was more concerned about infection—with good reason, since she became seriously ill while working there.

Click to expand...

As I understand it, others in addition to Louisa May Alcott insisted on fresh air in the Union hospital wards. Some hospitals built during the war were purposely designed to have decent ventilation.

Closer to the present, fresh air, every day and all year round, was strongly advocated by Dr. Benjamin Spock, the author of Baby and Child Care, which sold millions of copies in the US.