488 Flint's natueal history. [Book X. 



kind^^ ''epileus;" the only one, indeed, that is seen at all seasons 

 of the year, the others taking their departure in the winter. 



The various kinds are distinguished by the avidity with 

 which they seize their prey ; for while some will only pounce 

 on a bird while on the ground, others will only seize it while 

 hovering round the trees, others, again, while it is perched aloft, 

 and others while it is flying in mid air. Hence it is that 

 pigeons, on seeing them, are aware of the nature of the danger 

 to which they are exposed, and either settle on the ground or 

 else fly upwards, instinctively protecting themselves by taking 

 due precautions against their natural propensities. The hawks 

 of the whole of Massaesylia, breed in Cerne,^^ an island of 

 Africa, lying in the ocean ; and none of the kinds that are 

 accustomed to those parts will breed anywhere else. 



CHAP. 10. IN WHAT PLACES HAWKS AND MEN PUESUE THE 



CHASE IN COMPANY WITH EACH OTHER. 



In the part of Thrace which lies above Amphipolis, men" 

 and hawks go in pursuit of prey, in a sort of partnership as it 

 were ; for while the men drive the birds from out of the woods 

 and the reed-beds, the hawks bring them down as they fly ; 

 and after they have taken the game, the fowlers share it with 

 them. It has been said, that when sent aloft, they will 

 pick**^ out the birds that are wanted, and that when the oppor- 

 tune moment for taking them has come, they invite the fowler 

 to seize the opportunity by their cries and their peculiar mode 

 of flying. The sea- wolves, too, in the Palus Maeotis, do some- 

 thing of a very similar nature ; but if they do not receive their 

 fair share from the fishermen, they will tear their nets as they 

 lie extended.*^ Hawks will not^° eat the heart of a bird. The 

 night-hawk is called cybindis ;^^ it is rarely found, even in the 



^ Cuvier thinks that he means to identify this kind with the triorchis, 

 of which Aristotle says that it is to be seen at all seasons. 



46 See B. vi. c. 36. 



4'' Cuvier remarks, that we here find the art of falconry in its rough 

 state. It was restored to Europe, no doubt, by the Crusaders. See Beck- 

 mannjs Hist, Inventions, vol. i. p. 201. Baku's Edition. 



^ " Missas insubhme sibi excipere eos." The meaning is very doubtful. 



49 The whole of this passage is, most probably, a gloss or interpolation. 



50 This is denied by Albertus Magnus. 



51 Cuvier remarks, that Pliny has erroneously joined the account given 

 by Aristotle of the cybindis, to that of the hybris, or ptynx. He takes the 

 cybindis to be the " Strix Uralensis" of Pallas. 



