SOME ANCIENT AND ANTIQUATED VIEWS 5 



of periodic torpor there is no distinction observed, 

 whether the talons of a bird be crooked or straight ; 

 for instance, the Stork, the Ouzel, the Turtle-Dove 

 and the Lark, all go into hiding. The case of the 

 Turtle- Dove is the most notorious of all, for we would 

 defy any one to assert that he has anywhere seen a 

 Turtle-Dove in winter time ; at the beginning of hiding 

 time it is exceedingly plump, and during this period 

 moults, but retains its plumpness. Some Cushats hide ; 

 others, instead of hiding, migrate at the same time as 

 the Swallow. The Thrush and the Starling hide, and 

 the birds with crooked talons, the Kite and Owl, hide 

 for a few days." 



Thus Aristotle was the propounder of the theory 

 known as "hibernation" — a theory which survived 

 and held sway for two thousand years, and possibly 

 still has a place in the belief of certain credulous 

 persons. 



Aristotle was also responsible for the theory of 

 " transmutation "; being led to this belief by the seasonal 

 emigration of particular species and the simultaneous 

 appearance of others. He tells us that the Erithacus 

 (or Redbreast) and the Redstart change into one 

 another ; the former is a winter bird, the latter a summer 

 one, and the difference between them is practically 

 limited to the coloration of their plumage. In the 

 same way with the Beccafico [? Garden Warbler] and 

 the Blackcap ; these change the one into the other. The 

 Beccafico appears about autumn, and the Blackcap as 

 soon as autumn has ended. These birds, also, differ 

 from one another only in colour and note ; that these 

 birds, two in name, are one in reality is proved by the 

 fact that at the period when the change is in progress 



I. A 2 



