B. IX.] THE HISTOEY OP ANIMALS. 243 



down. A tame bird has been known to place an almond in 

 a crack in wood, to prepare it for the stroke of its bill, and 

 break it with three blows, in order to eat the kernel. 



CHAPTER XI. 



MANY prudent actions appear to be performed by cranes ; 

 for they travel great distances, and fly at a great elevation, 

 in order that they may see farther ; and if they see clouds 

 and wintry weather, they descend and rest themselves. 

 They have also a leader in front ; and in the rear are those 

 which give a signal by whistling, so that their voice may be 

 heard. When they settle on the ground, the rest sleep with 

 their head under the wing, first on one foot, then on the 

 other ; but the leader watches with his neck stretched out, 

 and when he sees anything he gives a signal by his cry. 

 The pelicans, which inhabit the rivers, swallow large smooth 

 shells with their drink, and when they have been digested 

 in the first part of their stomach, they vomit them up, in 

 order that they may pick out and eat their flesh when they 

 open their valves. 



CHAPTEE XII. 



1. THE habitations of wild birds are contrived with relation 

 to their mode of life and the preservation of their young. 

 Some of them are kind to their young and careful of them : 

 others are of a different disposition. Some manage well in 

 their mode of life : others do not. Some dwell in clefts, and 

 holes, and in rocks, as the birds called charadrius. This 

 bird is faulty both in its colours and its voice. It appears 

 during the night, and escapes in the day time. 



2. The hawk also builds in precipitous places ; and al- 

 though it is carnivorous, it does not devour the heart of the 

 bird it has killed. Some have observed this with respect to 

 the quail and thrush, and others with other birds. There is 

 also a change in their mode of hunting their prey, for they 

 do not seize them in the same way in summer and in winter. 

 It is said that no one has ever seen the young or the nest of 

 the carrion vulture. Wherefore Herodorus, the father of 

 Brison the sophist, says that they come from some distant 

 elevated land, using this proof, that many of them ap- 

 pear suddenly, but where they come from is not intelligible 



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