CRANES.
The tracts over which the cranes 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, they place sentinels on guard, each of whom 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 mean while, 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 from 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; but at the present day, this last bird is one of those that
are held in the very highest esteem, while no one will touch the other.