Plinics Naturall Hiftorie. zpj 



A lookech upon them and as they ftand. Moreover^ they fccm to take a pride in their fiying,wbiles 

 . they kcepc a dapping of their wings andcuttingof the airccvery way, asif they had apleafurc 

 to be flying abroad. In which bravericof theirs, whiles they flap with their wings and keepe a 

 glorious noifc (which cannot be without the beating of their verie pinions togither) they are 

 expofcd to the Faulcon and other hawkcs, as prifonersfaft bound and tied: for otherwife if they 

 would flic at libertie and cafcjwithoyt keeping fiich adoe with their clapping, they were much 

 more fwiftef wing, than the verie hawkcs that prey upon them.Butthehawkelikeavcrictheefe3 

 lieth hidden among the boughes and braunches of trees, marketh the Dove how hee fetcheth 

 his flight and taketh hispleafure in the aire; and when he feeih his time (in all this glorie of his 

 and the axids of his braverie) feizcth upon him and carieth him away* 



B 



Chap, xxxvii. 

 ^ OftheKefirclh 



TO prevent this daunger therefore, the Doves need to have with them the bird which Is cal- 

 led TinnuncuIuSj i. a. Keftrill, or Stannell : for (he defendeth them, and(by a ccrtainc natu- 

 rail powerthat (he hath) skareth and terrifieih ail other hawkes : infomuch, as they cannot 

 abide either to fee her,or to hcare hercrie.Wherupon Doves above all others,love thclc birds,* 

 And (as men fay) pigeons will not leave their owne dovecote to flie unto another, if in the foure 

 Q corners thereoiiherc be enterred loure Keftrils abovefaidjin foure new earthen po ts well ncalcd, 

 and never ufed before. But others have ufed meanesto keepe pigeons in their dovehoufc (for 

 otherwiie thejj^e birds that love to be raunging and wandring abroad) namely, by flitting and 

 cutting the joynts of their wings with fbme thin fharpe peece of gold : for if you do not fo,theii: 

 wounds will fcfter and be dangerous. And in verie truth, thefe birds be foone feduced and trai- 

 ned away from their owne homes : and they have a caft with them to flatter and entifc one ano- 

 ther: they take a great delight to in veagle others ^ andtofteale awayfome pigeons from their 

 owne flockes, and evermore to come homebetter accompanied dian they went fborth . More- 

 ■ over,Doves have lervedforpofl:sandcoutriersbetweene, and been emploied in great affaires j 

 and namely, at the flege of Modenna, Decimu<f Brutm fcnt out of the towne letters tycd to their 

 feet, asfarre as to the campe where the Confuls lay, and thereby acquainted them with newes, 

 and in what efliate they were within. What good then did the ramp ier and trench ^hxchAmo- 

 fimsc^a before the towne? To what purpofe ferved the (height fiege,thc narrow watch and 

 ward that he kept? Wherefore fcrved the river Po betwecne, where ail paflages are flopped up 

 . as it were with net and toile,io long as Brutm had his pods to fly in the aire over all their heads ? 

 To be iliort, many men are grownc now to c:(ft a fpeciall atfedion and love to thele birds : they 

 build turrets above thetopsof their houfes for dovecotes. Nay they are come tothispaflc,thac 

 they can reckon up their pedigree and race, yea they can tell the verie places from whence 

 this or that pigeon M came. And indeed one old example thcyfoWow o( L.y^xms agentle- 

 man fometime of Rome, who before the ciyill warre with Pompey^ fold every paire of pigeons 

 £ for foure hundred denicrs, as lM, Varro doth report . True it isjthat there goeth a great name * j 

 of certaine countries wherefomeof thcfepigeonsarcbred :forCampanie is voiced to yeeld 

 thegreateft andfairefl bodied of all other places. To conclude, their manner of flying indu- 

 ceth and traineth me to^thinke and write of the flight of other foulcs. ' /\ 



Chap. XXXVin. 

 Of the gdte and flight of birds, 



ALl other living creatures have onecertaine manner of marching and goiDg,according to 

 their leverail kind,unto which they keepe and alter not.Birds onely varie their courfc,whe- 

 ther they goeupon the ground or flie in the air c. Some walke their f^aiionsjas Crows and 

 Choughs: others hop and skip,as Sparrows and Oufels rfome run,as Partridges, Woodcocks, 

 and Snites: others again cafl out their feet before them,ftaulke and jet as they go,as Storks and 

 Cranes, Now for flyuigjiomelpread their wings brpadjftirring oifhakingthem but now & then, 



Cc ij " " " " !^8"g*"§ 



