Chapter 66

CHAP. III.Of theMigrationof Birds.

Of theMigrationof Birds.

Concerning theStateof this Tribe ofAnimals, the first Thing I shall speak of, (by Reason God himself instanceth in it,) shall be their Migration, mention’d,Jer.viii. 7.Yea, the Stork in the Heaven knoweth her appointed Times,and the Turtle, and the Crane, and the Swallow observe the Time of their Coming; but my People,&c.

In which Act of Migration, there are two Things to me, exceedingly notable. One is what the Text speaks of, their knowing their proper Times for theirPassage, when to come[a], when to go; as also that some should come when others go; and some others go when these come. There is no doubt but the Temperature of the Air, as to Heat and Cold, and their natural Propensity to breed their Young; may be great Incentives to those Creatures to change their Habitation: But yet it is a very odd Instinct, that they should at all shift their Habitation: That some certain Place is not to be found in all the terraqueous Globe, affording them convenient Food and Habitation all the Year, either in the colder Climes, for such as Delight in the colder Regions, or the hotter, for suchBirds of Passageas fly to us in Summer.

Also it is somewhat strange, that those untaught, unthinking Creatures, should so exactly know the best and only proper Seasons to go and come. This gives us good Reason to interpret the ‎‏מועדיה‏‎appointed times[b], in the Text, to be such Times as the Creator hath appointed those Animals, and hath accordingly, for this End, imprinted upon their Natures such an Instinct, as exciteth andmoveth them thus, at proper Times, to fly from a Place that would obstruct their Generation, or not afford convenient Food for them, and their Young, and betake themselves to another Place, affording all that is wanting for Food or Incubation.

And this leads me to another Thing remarkable in this Act of Migration; and that is, That those unthinking Creatures should know what Way to steer their Course[c]and whither to go. What but the great Creator’s Instinct should ever move a poor foolish Bird, to venture over vast Tracts of Land, but especially over large Seas? If it should be said, That by their high Ascents up into the Air, they can see cross the Seas; yet what should teach or persuade them, that that Land is more proper for their Purpose, than this? ThatBritain, (for Instance,) should afford them better Accommodations thanÆgypt[d], than theCanaries, thanSpain,or any of those many intermediate Places over which some of them probably fly.

And lastly, to all this, let us briefly add the Accommodations theseBirds of Passage have, to enable them to take such long Flights,viz.the Length of their Wings, or their more than ordinary Strength[e]for Flight.

FOOTNOTES:[a]Curiosa res est, scire, quàm exacte hoc genus avium,[Gruum]quontannis observet tempora sui reditûs ad nos. Anno 1667. primæ Grues comparuerunt in campestribus Pisæ 20 Feb.&c.F. Redi Exp. Nat. p. 100. ubi plura.[b]From ‎‏יעד‏‎indixit,constituit,scil locum, vel tempus, ubi vel quando aliquid fieri debet. Buxt. in verb.De voluntate suâ certiorem reddidit.Con. Kircher concordant. Pars. 1. Col. 1846. ‎‏מועד‏‎Generaliter pro re aliguâ certà, artestatâ, & definitâ accipitur. 1. Pro tempore certo & constituto. 2. Deinde pro sesto seu Solennitate, quæ certo & stato tempore celebratur. 3. Pro loco certo constituto.Id. ibid. Col. 1847.[c]Quis non cum admiratione videat ordinem & politiam peregrinantium Avium, in itinere, turmatim volantium, per longos terrarum & maris tractus absque Acu marinâ?——Quis eas certum iter in aëris mutabili regione docuit? Quis præteritæ signa, & futuræ viæ indicia; quis eas ducit, nutrit, & vitæ necessaria ministrat? Quis insulas & hospitia, illa, in quibus victum reperiant, indicavat; modumque ejusmodi loca in peregrinationibus suis inveniendi? Hæc sanè superant hominum captum & industriam, qui non nisi longis experientiis, multis itinerariis, chartis geographicis,——& acûs magneticæ beneficio,——ejusmodi marium & terrarum tractus conficere tentant & audent.Lud. de Beaufort. Cosmop. divina Sect. 5. c. 1.[d]I instance particularly inÆgypt, because Mr.WillughbythinksSwallowsfly thither, and intoÆthiopia, &c. and that they do nor lurk in Holes, or under Water, asOlaus MagnusReports.Vid.Ornith.L. 2. c. 3. ButEtmullerputs the Matter out of doubt; who saith,Memini me plures, quàm quas Medimnus caperit, Hirundines arcte coacervatas intra Piscinæ cannas, sub glacie prorsus ad sensum exanimes pulsantes tamen, reperiisse.Etmuller Dissert. 2. c. 10. §. 5. This as it is like whatOl. Magnussaith, so is a Confirmation of it. The Archbishop’s Account is,In Septentrionalibus aquis sæpius casu Piscatoris extrahuntur Hirundines, in modum conglemeratæ massæ, quæ ore ad os, & alâ ad alam, & pede ad pedem post principium autumni sese inter cannas descensuræ colligârunt.——Massa autem illa per imperitos adolescentes——extracta, atque in æstuaria portata, caloris accessu Hirundines resolutæ, volare quidem incipiunt, sed exiguo tempore durant.Ol. Mag. Hist. L. 19. c. 20.Since my penning this Note, we had, at a Meeting of the Royal-Society,Feb. 12. 1712-13.a farther Confirmation ofSwallowsretiring under Water in Winter, from Dr.Golas, a Person very curious in these Matters; who speaking of their Way of Fishing in the northern Parts, by breaking Holes, and drawing their Nets under the Ice, saith, that he saw sixteen Swallows so drawn out of theLake of Samrodt, and about Thirty out of the King’s great Pond inRosineilen; and that atSchlebitten, near an House of the Earl ofDohna, he saw two Swallows just come out of the Waters, that could scarce stand, being very wet and weak, with their Wings hanging on the Ground: And that he hath observ’d the Swallows to be often weak for some Days after their Appearance.[e]AsSwallowsare well accommodated for long Flights, by their long Wings, so areQuailsby the Strength of theirpectoral Muscles, by the Breadth of their Wings,&c.For Quails have but short Wings for the Weight of their Body; and yet they fly from us into warmer Parts, against Winter, and to us in Spring, crossing our Seas. So divers Travellers tell us they cross theMediterraneantwice a Year, flying fromEuropetoAfrica, and back again: ThusBelloniusin Mr.Willughby, saith, When we sail’d fromRhodestoAlexandriaofÆgypt, many Quails flying from the North towards the South, were taken in our Ship;whence I am verily persuaded, that they shift Places: For formerly also, when I sail’d out of the Isle ofZanttoMorea, orNegropont, in the Spring Time, I had observ’dQuailsflying the contrary Way, fromSouthtoNorth, that they might abide there all Summer. At which Time also, there were a great many taken in our Ship.Ornith. p. 170.

[a]Curiosa res est, scire, quàm exacte hoc genus avium,[Gruum]quontannis observet tempora sui reditûs ad nos. Anno 1667. primæ Grues comparuerunt in campestribus Pisæ 20 Feb.&c.F. Redi Exp. Nat. p. 100. ubi plura.

[b]From ‎‏יעד‏‎indixit,constituit,scil locum, vel tempus, ubi vel quando aliquid fieri debet. Buxt. in verb.De voluntate suâ certiorem reddidit.Con. Kircher concordant. Pars. 1. Col. 1846. ‎‏מועד‏‎Generaliter pro re aliguâ certà, artestatâ, & definitâ accipitur. 1. Pro tempore certo & constituto. 2. Deinde pro sesto seu Solennitate, quæ certo & stato tempore celebratur. 3. Pro loco certo constituto.Id. ibid. Col. 1847.

[b]From ‎‏יעד‏‎indixit,constituit,scil locum, vel tempus, ubi vel quando aliquid fieri debet. Buxt. in verb.

De voluntate suâ certiorem reddidit.Con. Kircher concordant. Pars. 1. Col. 1846. ‎‏מועד‏‎Generaliter pro re aliguâ certà, artestatâ, & definitâ accipitur. 1. Pro tempore certo & constituto. 2. Deinde pro sesto seu Solennitate, quæ certo & stato tempore celebratur. 3. Pro loco certo constituto.Id. ibid. Col. 1847.

[c]Quis non cum admiratione videat ordinem & politiam peregrinantium Avium, in itinere, turmatim volantium, per longos terrarum & maris tractus absque Acu marinâ?——Quis eas certum iter in aëris mutabili regione docuit? Quis præteritæ signa, & futuræ viæ indicia; quis eas ducit, nutrit, & vitæ necessaria ministrat? Quis insulas & hospitia, illa, in quibus victum reperiant, indicavat; modumque ejusmodi loca in peregrinationibus suis inveniendi? Hæc sanè superant hominum captum & industriam, qui non nisi longis experientiis, multis itinerariis, chartis geographicis,——& acûs magneticæ beneficio,——ejusmodi marium & terrarum tractus conficere tentant & audent.Lud. de Beaufort. Cosmop. divina Sect. 5. c. 1.

[d]I instance particularly inÆgypt, because Mr.WillughbythinksSwallowsfly thither, and intoÆthiopia, &c. and that they do nor lurk in Holes, or under Water, asOlaus MagnusReports.Vid.Ornith.L. 2. c. 3. ButEtmullerputs the Matter out of doubt; who saith,Memini me plures, quàm quas Medimnus caperit, Hirundines arcte coacervatas intra Piscinæ cannas, sub glacie prorsus ad sensum exanimes pulsantes tamen, reperiisse.Etmuller Dissert. 2. c. 10. §. 5. This as it is like whatOl. Magnussaith, so is a Confirmation of it. The Archbishop’s Account is,In Septentrionalibus aquis sæpius casu Piscatoris extrahuntur Hirundines, in modum conglemeratæ massæ, quæ ore ad os, & alâ ad alam, & pede ad pedem post principium autumni sese inter cannas descensuræ colligârunt.——Massa autem illa per imperitos adolescentes——extracta, atque in æstuaria portata, caloris accessu Hirundines resolutæ, volare quidem incipiunt, sed exiguo tempore durant.Ol. Mag. Hist. L. 19. c. 20.Since my penning this Note, we had, at a Meeting of the Royal-Society,Feb. 12. 1712-13.a farther Confirmation ofSwallowsretiring under Water in Winter, from Dr.Golas, a Person very curious in these Matters; who speaking of their Way of Fishing in the northern Parts, by breaking Holes, and drawing their Nets under the Ice, saith, that he saw sixteen Swallows so drawn out of theLake of Samrodt, and about Thirty out of the King’s great Pond inRosineilen; and that atSchlebitten, near an House of the Earl ofDohna, he saw two Swallows just come out of the Waters, that could scarce stand, being very wet and weak, with their Wings hanging on the Ground: And that he hath observ’d the Swallows to be often weak for some Days after their Appearance.

Since my penning this Note, we had, at a Meeting of the Royal-Society,Feb. 12. 1712-13.a farther Confirmation ofSwallowsretiring under Water in Winter, from Dr.Golas, a Person very curious in these Matters; who speaking of their Way of Fishing in the northern Parts, by breaking Holes, and drawing their Nets under the Ice, saith, that he saw sixteen Swallows so drawn out of theLake of Samrodt, and about Thirty out of the King’s great Pond inRosineilen; and that atSchlebitten, near an House of the Earl ofDohna, he saw two Swallows just come out of the Waters, that could scarce stand, being very wet and weak, with their Wings hanging on the Ground: And that he hath observ’d the Swallows to be often weak for some Days after their Appearance.

[e]AsSwallowsare well accommodated for long Flights, by their long Wings, so areQuailsby the Strength of theirpectoral Muscles, by the Breadth of their Wings,&c.For Quails have but short Wings for the Weight of their Body; and yet they fly from us into warmer Parts, against Winter, and to us in Spring, crossing our Seas. So divers Travellers tell us they cross theMediterraneantwice a Year, flying fromEuropetoAfrica, and back again: ThusBelloniusin Mr.Willughby, saith, When we sail’d fromRhodestoAlexandriaofÆgypt, many Quails flying from the North towards the South, were taken in our Ship;whence I am verily persuaded, that they shift Places: For formerly also, when I sail’d out of the Isle ofZanttoMorea, orNegropont, in the Spring Time, I had observ’dQuailsflying the contrary Way, fromSouthtoNorth, that they might abide there all Summer. At which Time also, there were a great many taken in our Ship.Ornith. p. 170.

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