Chap. 30.] 
CRANES. 
501 
are looked upon however as very inferior food ; the marrow,^ 
when disengaged from the bones, immediately emits a most 
noisome smell. 
CHAP. 30. (23.) CEANES. 
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 IsTepos, 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. 
Doe thinks that the spinal marrow is meant. 
97 B. iv. c. 18, and B. vii. c. 2. 
S8 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. 
