P R E F A C E. 241 



c*ut of diflicukies •, and therefore, whetlier they 

 wintered in TEgypt or nor, fignified little •, and 

 indeed it was only fuppoHng them to go a little 

 further, viz. into yEtluopia, and there they might 

 meet Jupiter at his annual vifit, ueh' xu.uuoyxi 

 Aihicuryixr^ and have the gift of prophecy con- 

 ferred upon them, or contirmed. Agreeably to 

 thefe notions we find Icveral birds were looked 

 upon as facrcd to particular gods •, thus the owl 

 to Minerva, the peacock to Juno, the eagle to 

 Jupiter, the crow to Apollo whole meiTenger he 

 was called as appears by Elefiod. 



Some will be apt to think that i have dwelt 

 much longer upon this fabjed that it deferved -, 

 but i cannot help thinkings that even the infir- 

 mities of the human mind, efpecially fuch as 

 have hke this prevailed amongit the mofl ingeni- 

 ous and fagacious people we read of, and for a 

 lonp- courfe of time inrlutnced their mod ferious 

 concerns^ ought to be looked upon as not bclov/ 

 our notice. 



It may fecm wonderful to fome, that natura- 

 lifts- have been fo long without being able to 

 determine any thing certain about the ftate of fe- 

 Veral birds when they difappear. The bell wri- 

 ters have given it as their opinion, that fival/ozvs 

 lye under water all winter v one of the lateft or- 

 nithologifts, a writer of great ciiara6ter, falls into 

 this opi.fion, and the author of the following Ca- 

 lendar adopts it •, and indeed till Mcnf. Adanfon 

 cleare.i up this point, it mutt appear a problema- 

 tical point to any man. But though the migra- 

 tion of this bird is at laft determmed, yet what 

 becomes of the mgbtiyigale^ the cuckc-zv, the 

 goat-fucker, and fcverai others, is llill undecided. 



R Nor 



