Chap. 30.] CRANES. 501 



are looked upon however as very inferior food ; the maiTow,** 

 when disengaged from the bones, immediately emits a most 

 noisome smell. 



CHAP. 30. (23.) CRANES. 



By the departure of the cranes, which, as we have already 

 stated,^ were in the habit of waging war with them, the nation 

 of the Pygmies now enjoys a respite. The tracts over which 

 they travel must be immense, if we only consider that they 

 come all the way from the Eastern Sea.^^ These birds agree by 

 common consent at what moment they shall set out, fly aloft 

 to look out afar, select a leader for them to follow, and have 

 sentinels duly posted in the rear, which relieve each other by 

 turns, utter loud cries, and with their voice keep the whole 

 flight in proper array. During the night, also, they place sen- 

 tinels on guard, each of which holds a little stone in its claw : if 

 the bird should happen to fall asleep, the claw becomes relaxed, 

 and the stone falls to the ground, and so convicts it of neglect. 

 The rest sleep in the meanwhile, with the head beneath the 

 wing, standing first on one leg and then on the other : the 

 leader looks out, with neck erect, and gives warning when 

 required. These birds, when tamed, are very frolicsome, and 

 even when alone will describe a sort of circle, as they move 

 along, with their clumsy gait. 



It is a well-known fact, that these birds, when about to fly 

 over the Euxine, first of all repair to the narrowest part of it, 

 that lies between the two ^^ Promontories of Criumetopon and 

 Carambis, and then ballast themselves with coarse sand. When 

 they have arrived midway in the passage, they throw away the 

 stones from out of their claws, and, as soon as they reach the 

 mainland, discharge the sand by the throat. 



Cornelius Nepos, who died in the reign of the late Emperor 

 Augustus, after stating that thrushes had been fattened for the 

 first time shortly before that period, has added that storks were 

 more esteemed as food than cranes : whereas at the present 

 day, this last bird is one of those that are held in the very 

 highest esteem, while no one will so much as touch the other. 



56 Doe thinks that the spinal marrow is meant. 

 97 B. iv. c. 18, and B. vii. c. 2. 



s^ In B. vii. c. 2, Pliny speaks of the Pygmies as living to the far East 

 of India. 

 99 See B. iv. cc. 20 and 26 : and B. vi. c. 2. 



