. Reptiles and birds : a popular account of their various orders : with a description of the habits and economy of the most interesting . Birds; Reptiles. CEANES. 367 Europe in the montli of April or May, passing the fine weather in more northern countries. Towards the middle of October, on the arrival of the first cold weather, they leave ns, in order to winter in Egypt, Abyssinia, or even Southern Asia. They travel in flocks, numbering sometimes as many as three or four hun- dred birds ; generally they arrange themselves in two lines, so as to form an isosceles triangle, or a sort of wedge w
. Reptiles and birds : a popular account of their various orders : with a description of the habits and economy of the most interesting . Birds; Reptiles. CEANES. 367 Europe in the montli of April or May, passing the fine weather in more northern countries. Towards the middle of October, on the arrival of the first cold weather, they leave ns, in order to winter in Egypt, Abyssinia, or even Southern Asia. They travel in flocks, numbering sometimes as many as three or four hun- dred birds ; generally they arrange themselves in two lines, so as to form an isosceles triangle, or a sort of wedge with the point in front—the most convenient formation for cleaving the air with the least amoimt of fatigue. From time immemorial people have been fond of saj'ing that these birds intrust the care of their guidance to a chief, who, after having led the way for a certain time, and becoming wearied, surrenders his charge to one of his companions and passes to the rear of the ^g. ™ne(GV„ri„.,Temm.). band, where, like a new Cincinnatus, he resumes the position of a simple citizen. The fact is, that the leader of the two files changes perhaps ten times in a minute, and the apex of the angle is occupied in succession by every Crane in the flock within a very short space of time. Cranes almost always travel at night, and alight down on the ground during daytime to seek their sustenance. Sometimes, however, they do not stop, and continue to push on through space, giving utterance to startling cries, which probably are intended as a ralljring summons to those of the band which seem tempted to linger on their journey. When they perceive a bird of prey, or have to contend against a tempest, they abandon their usual formation, and collect in a circular mass, so as better to resist the Please note that these images are extracted from scanned page images that may have been digitally enhanced for readability - coloration and appearance of these illustrations
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Photo credit: © The Book Worm / Alamy / Afripics
License: Licensed
Model Released: No
Keywords: ., bookcentury1800, bookdecade1870, booksubjectbirds, booksubjectrep
