in a similar manner also, the blackbird, the thrush, and the starling take their departure to neighboring countries; but they do not lose their feathers, nor conceal themselves, as they are often to be seen in places where they seek their food during the winter: hence it is that in winter, more especially, the thrush is so often to be seen in germany. it is, however, a well-ascertained fact, that the turtle-dove conceals itself, and loses its feathers. the ring-dove, also, takes its departure, yet it is a matter of doubt whither they go. a peculiarity of the starling is to fly in troops, as it were, and then to wheel round in a globular mass like a ball, the central troop acting as a pivot for the rest. swallows are the only birds that have a sinuous flight of remarkable velocity; so that they are not exposed to the attacks of other birds of prey: these are the only birds that take their food solely on the wing.
the time during which birds show themselves differs very considerably. some, like the pigeon, remain with us all the year round, some for six months, such as the swallow; and some again, for three months only, as the thrush, the turtledove, and those which take their departure the moment they have reared their young, like the witwall and the hoopoe.
there are some authors who say that every year certain birds fly from ?thiopia to ilium, and have a combat at the tomb of memnon there; from which circumstance they have received from them the name of memnonides, or birds of memnon. cremutius states it also as a fact, ascertained by himself, that they do the same every fifth year in ?thiopia, around the palace of memnon.
in a similar manner, the birds called meleagrides fight in b?otia. they are a species of african poultry, having a 205 hump on the back covered with a mottled plumage. these are the latest among the foreign birds that have been received at our tables, on account of their disagreeable smell. the tomb, however, of meleager has rendered them famous.
those birds are called seleucides, which are sent by jupiter at the prayers offered up to him by the inhabitants of mount casius, when the locusts are ravaging their crops of corn. whence they come, or whither they go, has never yet been ascertained, as, in fact, they are never to be seen but when the people stand in need of their aid.
the egyptians also invoke their ibis against the incursions of serpents; and the people of elis, their god myiagros (the hunter of flies), when the vast multitudes of flies are bringing pestilence among them; the flies die immediately after the propitiatory sacrifice has been made to this god.
rhodes possesses no eagles. in italy beyond the padus, there is, near the alps, a lake known by the name of larius, beautifully situated amid a country covered with shrubs; and yet this lake is never visited by storks, nor are they ever known to come within eight miles of it; while in the neighboring territory of the insubres there are immense flocks of magpies and jackdaws, the only bird that is guilty of stealing gold and silver, a very singular propensity.
it is said that in the territory of tarentum, the woodpecker of mars is never found. it is only lately, and that very rarely, that various kinds of pies have begun to be seen in the districts that lie between the apennines and the city. these birds are remarkable for the length of the tail and for the peculiarity of becoming bald every year at the time of sewing rape. the partridge does not fly beyond the frontiers of b?otia, into attica; nor does any bird, in the island in the black sea in which achilles was buried, enter the temple there consecrated to him. in the territory of fiden?, in the vicinity of the city, the storks have no young nor do they build nests: but vast numbers of ringdoves arrive from 206 beyond sea every year in the district of volaterr?. at rome, neither hies nor dogs ever enter the temple of hercules in the cattle market. there are numerous other instances of a similar nature in reference to all kinds of animals, which from time to time i feel myself prompted by prudent considerations to omit, lest i should only weary the reader.
there is another remarkable fact, too, relative to the birds which give omens by their note; they generally change their color and voice at a certain season of the year, and suddenly become quite altered in appearance; a thing that, among the larger birds, happens with the crane only, which grows black in its old age. from black, the blackbird changes to a reddish color, sings in summer, chatters in winter, and about the summer solstice loses its voice; when a year old, the beak also assumes the appearance of ivory; but only in the case of the male. in summer, the thrush is mottled about the neck, but in winter it becomes of one uniform color all over.
